The event was presided over by Senator Isabella Rauti with the participation of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Air Force General Luca Goretti, and Attorney Luca Pancalli, President of the Italian Paralympic Committee
It took place at the’Rome City Airport the presentation ceremony of the ‘Team Italy’ and the delivery of the Tricolour Flag to the delegation of athletes from Defence Paralympic Sports Group (GSPD) which will participate in the 6th edition of the Invictus Games, which will be held in Düsseldorf (Germany) from September 9 to 16, 2023.
The Senator Isabella Rauti, Deputy State Secretary for Defense, and the Air Force General Luca Goretti, Chief of Staff of the Air Force and Attorney Luca Pancalli, President of the Italian Paralympic Committee.
The event was moderated by sports journalist Isabella Schiavone and featured the presence of the Military Air Force Band, which performed several musical pieces.
The Senatrice Rauti wanted to emphasize: ”I consider the passing of the Tricolore into the hands of our military athletes to be a symbolic and highly patriotic gesture, because it is the same tricolor that they have sworn to always defend, even at the risk of their own lives. Invictus Games means sport but also fraternity, communion, and community among those who have endured traumatic events that have left marks and wounds that have forever changed their existence. The sporting aspect of Invictus Games is intertwined with the deepest sense of solidarity and sharing among all its participants, who are called competitors, that is, contestants and not athletes, to emphasize the spirit of inclusion that characterizes the games.”.
The Invictus Games are an international sporting event that brings together competitors, their families, as well as support staff and, of course, the public in one place, making it a wide and diverse community where sport, resilience and sharing come together, giving rise to a huge sense of solidarity.
The 2023 edition will see the participation of 21 countries who will compete in the following sports: athletics, cycling, indoor rowing, swimming, powerlifting, sitting volleyball, table tennis, archery, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby.
The Italian delegation, composed of 17 competitors from the Armed Forces and the civil personnel of the Defense, will be led by Brigadier General Roberto Como.
