The Games, which are being hosted by the United States Olympic Committee, include shooting, swimming, archery, track, discus, shot put, cycling, sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball.

Athletes have been recruited from each of the military services, including the Coast Guard, through an independent selection processes.

Many already participate in some kind of training with Paralympics coordinators, but the competitors have also had the opportunity of training with Olympic and Paralympics coaches at the Olympic training facilities in Colorado for about a month before the start of the Games.

The competition is open to military members and veterans with bodily injuries as well as mental wounds of war, such as post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury.

The US Army are represented by 100 soldiers chosen out of a pool of almost 9,000 wounded service men.

The Marine Corps have sent 50 competitors, the Air Force 25, and the Coast Guard and Navy combined a further 25.

US Army Brigadier General Gary Cheek, commander of Army Warrior Transition Command, said that the Games are intended to inspire service members "to reach for and achieve a rich and productive future, to defeat their illness or injury, whatever lies in the way, to maximise their abilities and know that they can have a rich and fulfilling life beyond what has happened to them in service to their nation."

John Register, an Army veteran and two-time Paralympian, said he found "liberation" in faith, family and sports after his left leg was amputated following a sport accident. 

He recounted how one service member who lost both his legs was so inspired by seeing Paralympians that he "engaged in life again."

"We have a choice in which we can move forward,” Register said.

"We can either choose to settle into our setbacks or we can soar forward knowing that we have those support networks and support groups around us that can help us get to and get back to those active lifestyles that we once enjoyed before we were injured."

To read a feature length article on the inaugural Warrior Games click here.


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