Quantico, Va. -- Today, the 2017 DoD Warrior Games kick off in the “Windy City” — Chicago. 40 Marine Corps athletes will compete alongside more than 200 other wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans in the festivities, held June 30 to July 8.
The wounded warrior athletes will represent the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, Special Operations Command, and teams from Australia and the United Kingdom. Teams include active-duty service members and veterans with injuries to the upper body, lower body and spinal cord, as well as traumatic brain injuries, visual impairment, serious illnesses and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Athletes will go for the gold in archery, cycling, field, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, track, and wheelchair basketball — building camaraderie and demonstrating the healing power of adaptive sports along the way.
You may remember some of this year’s team from our Marine Corps Trials blogs, including:
· Staff Sgt. Nelson Andrade
· Cpl. Dakota Boyer
· Sgt. Jacob Greenlief
· Sgt. Heraclio Juarez
Check out the bios for the rest of Team Marine Corps on our website.
Join us as we follow them live from the 2017 DoD Warrior Games. Use #WarriorGames and #TeamMarineCorps to track the conversation on social media, or follow the Wounded Warrior Regiment’s Facebook and Twitter pages for live video and event updates all throughout the games. You can also head to the Warrior Games website for real time updates and results.
And don’t forget to check back as we share more blogs on this year’s athletes throughout the Games.
The Warrior Games exist to provide an opportunity for athletes to grow physically, mentally and spiritually from the sportsmanship and camaraderie gained by representing their respective service teams in a friendly and spirited competition. It is an opportunity for athletes to showcase their enduring warrior spirit in the presence of their families and a grateful nation.
Established in 2010, the Warrior Games enhance the recovery and rehabilitation of wounded warriors and to expose them to adaptive sports. This is the third time the DoD will lead the operational planning and coordination of the event, and 2017 marks the first year the Warrior Games will be held entirely outside a military installation or a U.S. Olympic Committee facility.