By Rick Burke, Navy Office of Community Outreach
CHICAGO
– The 2017 Department of Defense Warrior Games kicked off June 30th with
competitions over the weekend in shooting, sitting volleyball, wheelchair
basketball, and track.
Navy Lt. Joshua Connell, a Clear Lake City, Texas native, is a multisport
athlete competing in cycling, swimming, and track.
Connell
competed in track, earning a bronze in the 1500 meters. He also competed in 800
and 400 meters and is scheduled to compete again on July 6 in cycling and
swimming on July 8, the last day of competition.
Connell
and the rest of “Team Navy” join more than 250 seriously wounded, ill and
injured service members and veterans at the Department of Defense Warrior Games.
Navy athletes are competing against
competitors from the Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, Special Operations Command,
Australian Defense Force and the United Kingdom Armed Forces in cycling, track
and field, shooting, swimming, archery, sitting volleyball and wheelchair
basketball.
The Navy honors the sacrifices of
wounded warriors by providing them top-notch non-medical support through Navy
Wounded Warrior (NWW) – Safe Harbor. All enrollees in NWW are encouraged to
make athletics a key component of their recovery efforts. By promoting wounded
warrior participation in competitions like the Warrior Games, NWW helps
enrollees heal through adaptive sports.
These games provide an opportunity
for athletes to grow physically, mentally and spiritually from the
sportsmanship and camaraderie gained by representing their respective service
teams in a friendly and spirited competition. It is an opportunity for athletes
to showcase their enduring warrior spirit in the presence of their families and
grateful nation.
- - Lt. Jesus
Uranga, Team Navy Public Affairs
For more information about the 2017
DoD Warrior Games, please visit http://www.dodwarriorgames.com/.