The second annual Warrior Games, which will take place until Saturday (May 21), will see approximately 220 wounded, ill and injured servicemen and women from the Army, Marine Corps, Navy/Coast Guard, Air Force and Special Operations compete in seven sports.

The competition is a joint effort between USOC and the Department of Defence, while it is supported by Deloitte, USO, BP, Fisher House Foundation and the Bob Woodruff Foundation.

Select events from the competition will be streamed live online on the USOC Paralympic website, www.USParalympics.org/WarriorGames, beginning with the Opening Ceremony this evening at 5:00pm Mountain Daylight Time (MDT).

Live online competition coverage on the website continues on Friday (May 20) with the wheelchair basketball bronze and gold medal games at 6:30pm MDT, while the final live installment comes on Saturday (May 21) with the sitting volleyball bronze and gold medal games at 1:00pm MDT.

In addition to the online coverage, VERSUS, part of the NBC Sports Group, will air a 2011 Warrior Games special presented by Deloitte on Saturday, June 18 at 7pm Eastern Standard Time (EST).

VERSUS' one-hour special will introduce viewers to several competing athletes and give an inside look at how sport is changing the lives of these courageous men and women.

VERSUS will also show a repeat of the programme on Tuesday, June 21 at 5:00pm EST.

"This multi-faceted coverage is an opportunity for the US Olympic Committee and its partners to share the spirit and impact of the event with all Americans," said USOC chief of Paralympics Charlie Huebner.

"The Warrior Games emphasise the importance of physical activity for all persons with physical disabilities."

The event is one component of the overall USOC Paralympic Military Programme, which is focused on providing daily physical activity as an important part of rehabilitation at the community and installation levels.

The programme is not about elite performance, rather assisting service members with a physical disability to find enjoyment in activities that are an instrumental part of the rehabilitation process.

Through the programme, in collaboration with the Department of Defence, physical activity and sports participation rates at Warrior Transition Units, Wounded Warrior Battalions/Detachments and other Wounded Warrior programmes throughout the United States have increased by 23 per cent in the past two years.

United States Army Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta has been selected as the torchbearer for the Deloitte 2011 Warrior Games and the Medal of Honour recipient from Cedar Rapids in Iowa will light the torch at the Warrior Games Opening Ceremony to get proceedings underway at the United States Olympic Training Centre in Colorado Springs.

Giunta, who has served in the US Army for almost eight years, became the first living recipient of the Medal of Honour, the United States' highest military decoration of valour, since the Vietnam War.

Giunta was cited for having saved the lives of members of his squad on October 25, 2007 while deployed in Afghanistan.

He exposed himself to enemy fire in order to pull a soldier back to cover when their platoon came under attack and for his bravery he was awarded the medal from US President Barack Obama during a ceremony at the White House last November.

To watch live coverage of the Opening Ceremony click here. 

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
May 2011: USOC announce Medal of Honour recipient Giunta as torchbearer for Deloitte 2011 Warrior Games
April 2011: Fisher House Foundation confirms support for 2011 Warrior Games
October 2010: Major award boost for 2010 Warrior Games
September 2010: Warrior Games to return to Colorado Springs
May 2010: Scott Blackmun - Warrior Games proof of sport's healing powers