With true pride and great satisfaction I welcomed the news that our team of veterans had qualified to participate in the momentous sporting event that is the international Invictus Games, this year organized in Sydney, Australia. Poland will be represented at the Games for the first time, and I am sure our team will make us proud. It was an honor for me, as the Minister of National Defense, to take patronage over their preparations for the Games.
Team Invictus Poland, which is the official name of the Polish representation – are fifteen veterans with various degrees of disability. Each of them has the status of injured veteran. They will compete in very challenging disciplines, such as discus throw, shot put, archery, swimming, indoor rowing, as well as various track events and sitting volleyball.
Participation in such a large-scale sporting event, with hundreds of athletes from around the world competing in so many disciplines, is a real challenge. Fields, tracks and swimming pools where our representatives are to compete with veterans from other countries will turn into a real bullring, where they will struggle not only with gravity, temperature, time and exhaustion, but most of all with their own weaknesses and limitations. I am certain that they will come out victorious. They already revealed their power of character, steadfastness, and fortitude on missions. It was there that they proved they are real warriors.
I would also like to take this opportunity to express my utmost respect for Polish veterans. Let me thank you again for not faltering when it was necessary to serve our country. Far away from your unit and your home. In a place where you were needed. In a dangerous, hostile and threatening place. Thank you for your readiness to risk your own life and health there, so that we could live here, in a safe and secure country.
I am extremely impressed by your fitness, determination and your will to succeed. I truly admire the enormous effort you put into preparing for this event. When I look at the pictures and recordings of your trainings, when I see how much power and faith you put into the fight to overcome your limitations, and how great your will to win is, I certainly know one thing – you are already victorious! It is not important – definitely not the most important – how many points you will score in matches, how fast you will swim across the pool or how many seconds it will take you to run each race. The most significant thing is that at Invictus Games you will be among the best competitors in the world, all of whom deserve to stand on the podium.
I wish you the best possible starts, perfectly aimed balls, the fastest runs and the lightest oars. I hope that you will all fulfill your dreams, because your dreams are also our dreams. For us, you are winners already.
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