Invictus Games: The Hague 2021 Dates Confirmed

Dates for the 2021 Invictus Games in The Hague have been confirmed.

The competition will take place in the Netherlands from 29 May to 5 June 2021.

The Invictus Games were originally due to be held in the Dutch city this year, but were moved to next year due to the coronavirus outbreak.

In May, the competition's founder the Duke of Sussex marked what would have been the opening ceremony of The Hague Invictus Games by releasing a video on social media.

Organisers say social distancing will remain part of the planning for the 2021 tournament.

Mart de Kruif, Chairman of the Invictus Games in The Hague, said: "We will organise the Invictus Games safely, for the competitors, their loved ones and spectators, but we will work within the current COVID-19 measures.

"We still strive to deliver a safe, surprising and impactful Games."

"It's the motivation that we needed," Rach Williamson, Team UK Invictus captain, told Forces News.

"We went for so long without knowing exactly when it was going to be, if it was going to happen, but it's a big relief to the team.

"We can now focus on these dates and start planning what we need to do to get back into that mindset again.

"We can start preparing ourselves a bit better now and get ready to all meet up at some point soon."

Ms Williamson added she believes the coronavirus pandemic will be "in the back of all of our minds" during the Games in the coming year.

"All we can do is just trust in the organising committee and I'm sure they're going to put on an amazing Games whatever the environment is at the time," she said.

Ms Williamson also said the athletes have become "closer as a team" during the nation-wide lockdown.

"We've looked out for each other even more and we've stayed in touch more than we usually would do," she explained.

Last month, the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf were postponed to the summer of 2023.

The week-long event was due to be held in the German city during 2022, but had to be moved after the coronavirus pandemic affected the schedule.

Dusseldorf won the right to host the Games in January.

Earlier this year, a charity single recorded by Prince Harry, Jon Bon Jovi and the Invictus Games Choir was released.

'Unbroken' was originally written and released by Bon Jovi last year as a tribute to veterans living with post-traumatic stress disorder.

In February, the singer re-recorded Unbroken across two days at the world-famous Abbey Road Studios in London in aid of the Invictus Games Foundation.

Cover image: US Department of Defense.