Soldiers injured in Gaza war among medal winners at Prince Harry’s Invictus Games
Althletes from the Beit Halochem centres for injured veterans perform well in Vancouver
Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
Israeli injured veterans have a well-deserved reputation for excelling in sports — and many of them are graduates of the Beit Halochem centres throughout the country which specialises in rehabilitation for those facing life-altering changes.
But even their biggest fans were surprised at an extraordinary victory Team Israel achieved at the Vancouver Invictus Games earlier this month.
As the 22-strong squad’s captain, Dr Yair Hillel, told Jewish News: “We were asked if we would enter a team in the curling event — and four swimmers said they would take part.” Curling, however, is a totally unknown sport in Israel — requiring an ice rink and the meticulous sliding of flat stones towards a target area marked out into four concentric circles.
Curling is very big in Scotland, where it is said to have originated, and also in Canada, the Invictus host country.
But with just an astonishing 45 minutes’ coaching by Eran Groumi, himself a former Olympic athlete, the Israeli novice team — none of whom had even heard of curling — secured a bronze medal, beating their startled Canadian hosts in the process.
The medal added to Team Israel’s impressive haul of 13 Invictus awards, including six gold, five of which were in swimming events, and the sixth in wheelchair basketball.
The Invictus Games were the brainchild of Prince Harry, who attended the Vancouver events.
Israel, which has all too much experience in rehabilitating former combatants who have suffered injuries while serving in war zone, fielded a 22-strong squad, all of whom are members of Beit Halochem centres. Unlike the Olympics, Invictus participants can only take part in one set of games, so it was a new event for the whole team. They ranged in age from the captain, 53-year-old Yair Hillel, a swimmer, to a “baby” of 20. Seven members of the team are disabled after injuries sustained in the current Gaza fighting.
Dr Hillel, who himself won three gold and one silver medals, said the Vancouver Games were “a wonderful, beyond words experience. They [the organisers] made it very special from the first moment. There was something really empowering about the way we were treated — from the volunteers, the conditions, all the hospitality — every minute was fine-tuned to make us feel that we were in good hands and that people thought and cared about us.”
The only problem, he said, “was that it was sad that we couldn’t go out in the streets with a coat showing the symbol of our country — like every other country. But we had security guards from Israel with us and Vancouver security, so we felt safe.”
This year’s Invictus was attended by 550 sports people from 23 countries. Dr Hillel, a clinical psychologist, lives in Haifa and was severely wounded in 1995, the victim of a suicide bomber, while serving as a combat infantry and intelligence officer in a Golani battalion.
Formerly a keen windsurfer and runner, he took to swimming at the Beit Halochem centres in Israel, when looking for a sport he could do without aggravating his injury. He needs to wear a permanent abdominal belt and secured special permission from the Invictus organisers to wear, during his races, a bodysuit which incorporates a built-in abdominal belt.
Dr Hillel spoke warmly of the reception the Israeli team had from other competitors. “They were friendly all the time and we had a lot of social encounters, with a great atmosphere of good fellowship.
The Israeli team competed in six sports: alpine skiing and snowboarding, indoor rowing, sitting volleyball, swimming, wheelchair basketball, and wheelchair curling. Team Israel had not originally registered for volleyball but took part together with athletes from Afghani exiles, a Lithuanian, an Italian, and a Ukrainian.
Dr Hillel said he had been “really impressed” by Prince Harry, whose project the Invictus Games was.”l liked his modesty and the way he dealt with everyone”.
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