It was the last consecutive ahead of the Invictus Games. The White-Red squad preparing for the competition ended training at the Military Training and Condition Centre in Zakopane. In February, players will leave for Canada, where they will first compete in winter competitions.
We are ready to fight, inspire others and show the planet that adversity is to overcome them! – declared the players. Polish squad forms 19 veterans injured on missions and soldiers who were injured during service in the country. They will take part in the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler competition in Canada along with over 500 veterans from almost 20 countries. The organizer of the games is the Invictus Games foundation founded by a associate of the British royal household Prince Harry.
Training makes a master
While preparing to compete in Canada, Polish representatives practiced, among others, at the Military Training and Condition Centre in Zakopane. The sports hall was held Exercises in volleyball sitting down, swimmers practice at the pool, and rowers exercise on ergometers. At the Biathlon Stadium in Kościelisko, the players were preparing to take off in cross-country skiing and biathlon, while the downhill skiers practiced on the slopes of the Black Mountain – Litwinka. For curling training, you had to get to Krakow.
– During all six groups, we tried to integrate the team, as it is made up of players debuting at Invictus Games – says Mariusz Pogonowski, head of the Polish sports squad for the games. present he believes that a squad has been created, whose players support each other. He emphasizes that you can see their determination and feel the spirit of the team. For example, the cry that soldiers finish training in a sitting volleyball, the only squad competition: “One team, 1 heart. Poland!’
Major Małgorzata Kalita, head of the Polish squad of sports, besides talks about the “invincible” competition, which is an chance for injured soldiers to overcome their own limitations and build a community. Major besides points out that many players have not so far practiced winter disciplines. At a January group in Zakopane, coaches gave players the latest method advice on skiing, and the squad in volleyball sat out reasoning strategies for matches with opponents. Poles will face German players and the global team.
Highly suspended bar
– The weather has added, the ski trails were well prepared – he estimates Captain Piotr Maletka, veteran injured on a mission in Afghanistan. An officer who will take off in Canada, among others, in downhill skiing, recalls how he took his first steps in this discipline last winter. The last 2 groups in Zakopane allowed him to importantly rise his ski skills. As he adds, he was very helped by instructions from the head coach Krzysztof Butas from the military centre in Zakopane concerning, among others, the work of hips and knees during the reunion and the fastest possible crossing of bends. But that's not the only challenge, due to the fact that Captain Maletka will besides compete in the sledding. He did not train this competition, due to the fact that there is no appropriate sledge track in Poland and only in Canada will he be able to effort his hand in this discipline. He admits that sleighing with his head down at 100 km/h can origin quite a few excitement.
The officer besides became captain of the squad in a volleyball on a seat. The bar is suspended high, due to the fact that during the last 2 games – The Hague and Düsseldorf – Polish squad won gold medals. – It may be hard to repeat this success, due to the fact that our squad learned this discipline from scratch. We started by bouncing the ball and moving around the field without tearing the buttocks off the level – says the squad captain. However, it emphasizes the will to fight in players and play for victory. “This is simply a success,” he says.
The only player on a sitting volleyball squad who has experience in this discipline and participated in erstwhile games is Lieutenant Mariusz Sawicki, a veteran wounded on a mission in Iraq. – While preparing for the games, I was eating healthy, which allowed me to lose extra pounds. This makes me more efficient and faster to decision on the volleyball field sitting down – says the officer. He will besides compete in indoor rowing and cross-country skiing in Canada. He reports that he long studied the secrets of ski gears and poured out hectolitres of sweat during exercise on an ergometer.
Appetite grows
The first Invictus Games competition was held in 2014. Polish squad debuted 4 years later in Sydney. During the next 2022 games in The Hague, we won 8 medals, a year later in Düsseldorf – 15, including 8 gold. What's it gonna be in Canada? The medal is just a part of gold. More crucial is sports conflict and overcoming our own weaknesses – says Lieutenant Sawicki. In this fight, the players will be supported by the closest ones, as the Invictus Games Foundation besides invites their families and friends to the competition to thank them for supporting injured soldiers during rehabilitation.
The coordinator of the Polish sports squad Invictus Games is the Veteran Centre for Activities outside the State Borders. The media patron of the Invictus Games competition is “Army Poland”, pand the Polish Armed Forces Group. The Games begin on 8 February.
