Ukraine to be represented by 24 servicemen at Invictus Games in Germany
Lviv has hosted the national selection for the national team that will represent Ukraine at the Invictus Games in Düsseldorf, Germany. It was attended by 223 participants from all oblasts of Ukraine; wounded soldiers and veterans were there.
Source: Lviv City Council; National Guard of Ukraine
Details: The Ukrainian national team will be represented by 24 participants from among military personnel and veterans this year. For three months, the athletes will undergo intensive training and take part in international competitions that will take place from 9 to 16 September in Germany.
How the selection took place and who participated in it
The athletes competed in nine disciplines: archery, athletics, cycling, powerlifting, indoor rowing, sitting volleyball, swimming, table tennis, and wheelchair basketball.
At the opening of the Games, an empty table with T-shirts with the names of athletes who had fallen for Ukraine was placed in the hall.
The last competition of the first day was a team game, namely wheelchair basketball. This game was perhaps the most impromptu, as almost all the men sat in special wheelchairs and played this kind of basketball for the first time.
The second competition day consisted of archery, cycling, swimming and table tennis. The most spectacular of these competitions was cycling. This was the only part of this year's Invictus Games that took place in an open location in the centre of Lviv, so Lviv residents could watch the competition and cheer for the participants.
Oleksandr Piskun, Colonel of the National Guard from Kryvyi Rih, has won a gold medal at the national selection for the Invictus Games 2023 in Lviv.
On the second day of the national selection, he competed in two disciplines: table tennis and archery. Oleksandr won gold in table tennis and bronze in archery.
Oleksandr Piskun was wounded in 2014 during the liberation of Lysychansk. The man underwent extensive treatment and rehabilitation. Oleksandr participated in the Invictus Games in previous years, competing in swimming and shot put.
26-year-old Oleksandr Budko from Rivne (who goes by the alias Teren) is taking part in the Invictus Games for the first time. He immediately tried himself in as many sports as possible: bench press, running, rowing, wheelchair basketball and sitting volleyball.
"I joined the army in May 2022. I fought in Kharkiv Oblast, on the Izium front. In August, something flew into the trench; I don't even know what it was, and it so happened that I had two legs amputated. I knew right away that I was going to participate in the Invictus Games, so I started training even before I had prostheses," Oleksandr said.
Mykola Syplyvyi, a 60-year-old man from Lviv (who goes by the alias Sokil), also took part in cycling. Mykola says that he has been participating in the Games for three years in a row because he loves this "youthful" atmosphere.
"I have been a volunteer since 2014. After the full-scale invasion, I first served in the Lviv-based 103rd Brigade and then transferred to the Luhansk-based 111th Brigade. I was injured several times by mines. I have been participating in the Invictus Games since 2019," Mykola said.
"Each soldier has his or her own unique story, and by his or her example, he or she inspires others and shows that the impossible is possible. The whole world sees that no trauma can break the spirit of strong Ukrainians," the National Guard of Ukraine added.
The Invictus Games were launched by Prince Harry in 2014. The Games were first held in London. Ukraine joined the Invictus Games in 2017, making its debut in Toronto.
Photos by the National Guard of Ukraine and Lviv City Council.
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