C35I4160

Day 2: Sunday April 17

The first full sports day at the Invictus Games yielded a number of special stories. In the sitting volleyball hall and on the athletics track two participating athletes, Lasse Jakobson from Denmark and Angel Paul Ilovan from Romania, proposed to their girlfriends. Kerrie Tessier (Australia) and Geert Nielsen (Denmark) looked back with many positive emotions on the road they travelled to get to The Hague. Just like Carrie Pressot. The American came to the Netherlands to support her boyfriend Michael Murphy. And so hundreds of athletes were on the sports field on Sunday and we could have written hundreds of stories.

Wedding proposals

Wedding proposals

Lasse Jakobsen and Karina Cronborg

Lasse Jakobsen and Karina Cronborg

Whatever great things may come this week, it cannot be any more beautiful than this Sunday. Maybe never. The Danish IG competitor Lasse Jakobson and his girlfriend Karina Cronborg agree to this. “This is the epitome”, says Karina, as she is looking at the ring on her finger. “I did not dare to dream this.”
Angel Paul Ilovan and Cezara Sorana

Angel Paul Ilovan and Cezara Sorana

Later on the day Cupid’s arrow struck at the athletics track. The Romanian Angel Paul Ilovan went on the knees after 100 meters, to surprise his girlfriend Cezara Sorana. She stood at the line to clap her friend's performance, but was barely a few minutes later suddenly the upcoming wife.

Competitors

Competitors

Kerrie Tessier (Team Australia)

Kerrie Tessier (Team Australia)

Kerrie Tessier from Team Australia competes in no less than five different sports during these Invictus Games. Her most important motivation to take part. “It’s an opportunity for me to get mentally and physically stronger.”
Geert Nielsen (Team Denmark)

Geert Nielsen (Team Denmark)

Geert Nielsen (51) is a debutant at the Invictus Games as a sitting volleyball player and cyclist. Originally he was preparing for archery, but when it became possible to play volleyball - in a mixed team with players from the United Kingdom and Australia - he quickly switched. His height is 1.93m, very suitable for normal volleyball, but he can also stretch further than his teammates while sitting.
Joshua Conell (Team USA)

Joshua Conell (Team USA)

Not once, but twice a 1500 meter. Read his story here!

Volunteers

Volunteers

Gabriela Doeswijk

Gabriela Doeswijk

Gabriela knows all about physical and mental injuries The volunteers at the Invictus Games Stadium who she coordinates, characterize Gabriela Doeswijk (39) from Rotterdam as ‘From Argentina’. And yes, she was indeed born on a farm in the outskirts of Buenos Aires. Her mother is Argentinan, her father Dutch. She is a sports fan who also had to prepare herself mentally for her role during the Invictus Games. She speaks Spanish and English fluently, but during the conversation she jumps to perfectly Dutch quite soon. Like she has never spoken anything else. Her favorite sports were running and volleyball. She speaks in the past tense because her knees, despite two surgeries, are currently too weak to run. She still wants to help during sport events and in particular during the Invictus Games. Maybe this will be healing for herself too. Quite hesitant she starts telling that she, a positive and active woman, never thought she would develop a depression. A combination of medical problems of her parents, huge workload and the urge to help everyone proved to be too much for her. “I thought of getting a month off, but it has been three years since then,” says Gabriela, who felt ‘like a failure’. “Nobody saw anything unusual, that is what made it extra hard.” She thinks it is sheer luck that she is assigned to help at the stadium where the sit volleyball competition takes place. The team bond is much stronger than she ever experienced. The collective and individual willpower have made a big impression on her. For her it is a test to see if she is up to the role of coordinator. Before she already helped at the Rotterdam Marathon, the triathlon and beach volleyball. She has to know and guard her personal boundaries and express them in time. Originally, she had put herself on the list for five days to volunteer. But she brought it down to three, with some days off in between. That way her return will be quicker and better!

Family & friends

Family & friends

Carrie Pressot

Carrie Pressot

Most sportsmen and women can count on the unconditional support of their family and friends during these Invictus Games. One of them is Michael Murphy from Team USA. During the Games he is accompanied by his girlfriend Carrie Pressot.