The 2017 Invictus Games was a parasport event for wounded, injured or sick armed services personnel and their associated veterans, which was held in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. The third Invictus Games, an event created in 2014 by Prince Harry, included eleven sports. It was the second Games to be held in North America, following the Invictus Games Orlando 2016.

Development and preparation

The CEO of the 2017 Invictus Games was Michael Burns.

Torch relay

The relay took place between 19 August and 26 September, visiting all 32 Canadian Forces bases and neighbouring communities, being carried by over 1000 torchbearers. The route was charted as being 7000 kilometres long.

Venues

The Games used some of the facilities from Pan American and Parapan American Games in 2015, held in Toronto. There was no athlete's village for these games, but the downtown Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel became an unofficial village for participants living there.

Funding

The Royal Canadian Legion was asked by organizers to be a sponsor; the 30 members of the Legion council who met voted unanimously in support. Their $500,000 donation drew criticism from

Canadian Veterans Advocacy Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source o ...

, who suggested that drawing on the Poppy Campaign donations as opposed to other revenue sources was inappropriate. The Legion and columnists defended the use of funds as supporting the mission, noting other veteran welfare projects like purchasing a specialized MRI for a mental health clinic.

Marketing

Canadian Forces Central Band at Air Canada Centre

A dog named Vimy was announced as the Games' mascot in April 2015. It was named for the Battle of Vimy Ridge, considered by many as a defining moment in Canadian history. A few days later, Prince Harry attended an exhibition sledge hockey game at

Mattamy Athletic Centre Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was initially constructed in 1931 as an arena to host ice hockey games, though it has sinc ...

in Toronto, alongside Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since ...

and Toronto Mayor John Tory, as part of a series of launch events at the Royal York Hotel, and with

Elizabeth Dowdeswell Violet Elizabeth Dowdeswell (née Patton; born November 9, 1944) is a Canadian public servant who currently serves as the lieutenant governor of Ontario, the 29th since Canadian Confederation. She is the viceregal representative of the Kin ...

in the office of the

Lieutenant Governor of Ontario The lieutenant governor of Ontario (, in French: ''Lieutenant-gouverneur'' (if male) or ''Lieutenante-gouverneure'' (if female) ''de l'Ontario'') is the viceregal representative in Ontario of the , who operates distinctly within the province bu ...

, at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Queen's Park.

The Games

Participating nations

All 15 countries from the 2016 Games were invited again, while Romania and Ukraine made their debut. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Sports

* Archery * Athletics * Golf * Indoor rowing * Powerlifting * Road cycling * Sitting volleyball * Sledge hockey * Swimming * Wheelchair basketball * Wheelchair rugby

Calendar

Source:

Medal table

Broadcasters

Bell Media Bell Media Inc. (French: ) is a Canadian company formed by the amalgamation of several companies. Establishment (2011–13) On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the sale of its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports ...

was announced as the exclusive broadcast partner of the Games, in a deal covering both the Orlando 2016 and Toronto 2017 events. Events were shown on

TSN TSN may refer to: Science and technology * Translin, DNA binding protein involved in microRNA function * Taxonomic serial number, a stable and unique taxonomic serial number issued by the Integrated Taxonomic Information System * The Science Netwo ...

. The station helped run the Toronto launch ceremony in May 2016.

References

{{Invictus Games 2017 in Canadian sports 2017 in multi-sport events Invictus Games International sports competitions in Toronto 2017 in Toronto Multi-sport events in Canada Invictus Games