- Jaguar Land Rover Australia supports national team competing at the 2017 Invictus Games Toronto
- Australia has a 43-strong team for the 2017 Invictus Games
- The Invictus Games are for wounded, injured and ill servicemen, servicewomen and veterans
- This year's Games (September 23 - September 30) feature over 550 competitors from 17 countries
- Jaguar Land Rover today also announced its continued support as
Presenting Partner of the Invictus Games Sydney 2018
Sydney, Australia, 19 September, 2017: Jaguar Land Rover Australia has swung its support behind Australia's Invictus Games team and confirmed it will be Presenting Partner of the 2018 Games, due to take place in Sydney.
Jaguar Land Rover has been Presenting Partner of the Invictus Games since the inaugural event in London in 2014, followed by the Invictus Games in Orlando in 2016, and this year's Games in Toronto, Canada. Through numerous recruitment initiatives, the company has also recruited over 700 ex-military men and women globally into the workplace since 2014.
Australia is sending a 43-strong contingent to the week-long Invictus Games Toronto 2017. In preparation for the event Jaguar Land Rover Australia supplied a Jaguar F-TYPE and a Land Rover Discovery for a recent team training camp in Sydney, NSW, to help athletes prepare for the Canadian driving challenges.
The sporting competition, which starts in Toronto on September 23, is for wounded, injured and ill (WII) serving and former serving military personnel and was first held in London, England in 2014 as a way of helping military personnel heal both physically and mentally.
Billed as the world biggest international adaptive sporting event for wounded, injured and ill serving and former serving men and women , the Invictus Games Toronto events include archery, athletics, cycling, indoor rowing, the Jaguar Land Rover Driving Challenge, powerlifting, sitting volleyball, swimming, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, wheelchair tennis, and, new for 2017, golf.
One of the competitions to take place is the Driving Challenge featuring Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles in both on- and off-road car control exercises.
The sporty Jaguars guarantee speed and handling precision for the tough slalom challenge course featuring 'Jaguar Smart Cones' to create an unpredictable, constantly-changing track layout to increase driver difficulty.
The surefooted Land Rovers are used on a daunting urban driving course with tracks designed to test both driving and navigational skills.The Jaguar Land Rover Driving Challenge provides the first medals of the Invictus Games Toronto 2017.
Former Army Medical Technician Stewart Sherman, is competing at this years Invictus Games in wheelchair tennis and wheelchair basktball and wheelchair rugby.
Stewart spent a lot of time driving the Land Rover Discovery in camp, declaring it: "a great car and definitely on my wish list."
"Jaguar Land Rover Australia has really stepped-up and should be commended for supporting the Australian team for Toronto. It's great to see them do that," Stewart said.
A veteran of both Afghanistan and the Solomon Islands, Stewart has been fighting "the invisible injury," Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), since returning home.
"I have had some really tough times since leaving the military," said Stewart.
"Luckily, I found sport through the Invictus Games and it changed everything for me. It means so much and helped turn me around. Really, it's been the platform that's changed my life.
"Coming together with other people who have been through exactly the same things means we can talk about it openly. It's helped resolve so many things.
Jaguar Land Rover Australia managing director, Matthew Wiesner, said:
"Each member of the team is using the benefits of sport to support their rehabilitation and their individual and collective efforts should serve as an inspiration to everyone.
"We are incredibly proud to be a partner of the Australian team competing at the Invictus Games Toronto, and even more delighted to announce Jaguar Land Rover will be the Presenting Partner of the 2018 Invictus Games in Sydney." Mr Wiesner said.
Chairman of the Invictus Games Sydney 2018 Lieutenant General Peter Leahy, said;
"Jaguar Land Rover are an integral part of the Invictus Games story, having been a global partner since the inaugural Games in 2014. By carrying their support through to Invictus Games Sydney 2018, Jaguar Land Rover will play a vital role in helping the wider Australian community understand the true impact of service. By showcasing the healing power of sport, we hope to inspire the Australian community to embrace our serving personnel, veterans and their supportive family and friends."
(Note to editors: 'Invictus' is Latin for 'unconquered.' The Invictus Games name comes from a poem by William Ernest Henley. The Games motto is 'I AM the master of my fate, I AM the captain of my soul' which was inspired by the final two lines of the poem.)