WHISTLER, British Columbia — Prince Harry raced head first on a small skeletal sled traveling at 99 kilometers per hour (61.5 mph) down a track at the site of next year's Invictus Games on Thursday, saying with a smile afterward that everyone should do it.
Harry was in Whistler, British Columbia, with his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, to visit athletes in training camps and promote the games he founded for service members and veterans wounded, injured and ill after serving in Afghanistan.
The British royal performed two laps on one of the world's fastest snowboarding tracks, which also hosts skeleton races. The 2025 Games in Vancouver and Whistler will be the first to feature winter sports, including skeleton events, skiing and wheelchair curling, but will also host events that have previously been held, such as indoor rowing, sit-down volleyball, swimming, wheelchair and wheelchair rugby. Basketball.
Cowbells rang as the prince finished his first lap, and when he was helped off the track, he took off his helmet and said with a smile: “Everyone should do this, it should be mandatory.”
Megan was waiting at the bottom of the track after her two laps.
Someone shouted: “Meghan, you have to go.” “Impossible,” she replied.
Experienced skiers start at the top of the trail, although the Prince starts at the halfway mark. He was given a safety briefing first, and paramedics were on standby.
Park City Utah Olympic Park (UOP), is the closest structural path to its Canadian counterpart. Aaron Lanningham of Salt Lake City was one of the first people with disabilities to transfer from his wheelchair to a frame sled at UOP 20 years ago. Since then he has become responsible for the sport of skeleton.
American Ivan Moreira, a one-armed amputee injured in a combat zone in Afghanistan, was in Whistler for training camp. He said he appreciated Harry for giving service members a chance to find purpose after injury.
“I am constantly recovering from this injury, maybe not physically, but emotionally and mentally,” Moreira said in an interview. “A big catastrophic event like this affects you, so adaptive sports is my way of dealing with that.”
Earlier in the week, at the Alpine ski resort of Whistler, Prince Harry sat in a snowmobile, also known as a tandem ski, typically used at the Park City resort. National Capacity Center (NAC), by skiers with disabilities of the spine and/or lower extremities. He used the outrigger poles to make some turns along the track.
The 2025 Games will include about 500 competitors from 23 countries from February 8 to 16, 2025.
