Invictus Games: Round-up of day four as Meghan and Harry join crowds
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been enjoying the wheelchair basketball and swimming events on day four of the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Meanwhile, the new Invictus sport of table tennis was also captivating the crowds on an action-packed day.
In wheelchair basketball, Team UK won three out of four of their pool matches, but lost 29-10 to the US in the semi-final.
This year marked the introduction of a fresh sport to the competition - table tennis.
This saw Emmy Akor, who is originally from Nigeria, partner with the Royal Navy’s Leo Buscombe in the doubles.
Emmy was a tank driver in the British Army and during an exercise in Canada he became trapped inside his vehicle, which caught fire. He escaped, but the experience left him mentally scarred.
Before he started training for the Invictus Games, Emmy had not played table tennis. However, his relative lack of experience in the sport did not stop him and his partner from beating their opponents.
The pair won a 2-0 set in the TT4-7 mixed doubles table tennis against New Zealand.
Plenty of swimming medals were won by Team UK on Day Four.
Among this year's British cohort of swimmers was Dani Stevens, who came to the the Games to overcome her fear of water so that one day she could take her son for swimming lessons.
Dani had an accident in the water, which left her terrified of swimming. But having her son gave her the motivation to get over her fear so that they could swim together as a family.
With tears in her eyes, the athlete said: "Today was really special because I got in the pool and I swan in front of my little boy for the first time."
Dani swam the 50m women's freestyle in 55.35 seconds and said the competition had given her the courage to know that she could "overcome anything".
Team UK went head to head in the wheelchair basketball bronze medal match against Team Unconquered, winning 23-12.
Team Unconquered were established with the goal of providing nations without a dedicated team the opportunity to participate in the Games.
Since their conception at the Toronto Games in 2017, the team have been a fundamental and enduring aspect of Invictus.
Since it was first founded in 2014, the Invictus Games has gone from strength to strength, with this year's competition in Dusseldorf being the biggest to date, involving 22 nations and more than 500 competitors.
The Games were founded by the Duke of Sussex. Inspired by his time in Afghanistan, Prince Harry wanted to create an event that would see veterans thrive.
Forces News will be bringing you daily updates, inspiring stories and behind-the-scenes content from the Invictus Games throughout the week.
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