Warrior Games

On August 28, 2022, the Warrior Games 2022, a multi-sport adaptive sports competition for wounded, injured, and ill service members and veterans, concluded. It was a special year for Ukraine: our team participated in the Warrior Games in the United States for the first time — and did so in a way that made Ukrainian warriors even more famous.

The competition lasted from August 19 to 28, 2022 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando (Florida, USA).

What is Warrior Games?

The Warrior Games are adaptive sports competitions created as part of the military’s post-combat recovery program. They are open to service members and veterans who have been injured, traumatized, or ill while performing their duties.

The idea is simple and powerful: sport as a rehabilitation tool that helps restore physical fitness, endurance, and coordination, while also supporting psychological resilience and restoring a sense of control over one’s own life.

КоротA brief history of “Igor the Warriors”

After a series of military conflicts, a significant number of soldiers returned home with injuries of varying severity. In response to this reality, the US Department of Defense in 2010 decided to hold the Warrior Games as part of an adaptive sports program – one of the methods of comprehensive rehabilitation.

Since 2012, thanks to the support of the Fisher House Foundation, a program has been operating to involve loved ones: two members of the athlete’s family can provide logistics for participation (flight, accommodation, meals, transportation, documents, etc.). Support from relatives during the competition is not a “nice bonus”, but an important component of restoring and strengthening family ties.

In 2013, athletes from the British armed forces joined the competition (up to 40 athletes per team). Prince Harry was present at the opening ceremony of the 2013 Warrior Games in Colorado Springs.

In 2021, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, full offline competitions were not possible – the Warrior Games were held online. Then, US and Ukrainian military personnel competed, and Ukrainian athletes won 49 medals.

How the Ukrainian team was formed in 2022

In early summer 2022, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine received an invitation letter from the organizers of the Warrior Games 2022 (US Army) regarding the participation of Ukrainian soldiers who were injured during hostilities as a result of Russian aggression.

Time was critically short: preparation was actually a month — 5 weeks. And this is the case when “little time” is not an excuse, but a challenge that Ukrainians accept without further ado.

The preparation was built systematically:

• FF co-founder and head coach Olena Yanovska first determined in which sport each athlete could show the best result;
• then — intensive joint work of FF coaches and participants with constant progress tracking;
• once a week, a general team meeting was held: summing up, assessing the dynamics and monitoring the general condition of the participants.

For five weeks, the team trained in the UK, at the Blind Veterans rehabilitation center. The combination of productive training and high-quality recovery yielded tangible results: the participants significantly improved their sports performance even before the start of the competition.