Prince Harry's Invictus Games Announce Finalists for 2027 Host City — Including One in the U.S.
The final decision is expected in the weeks ahead, but either way, the Invictus Games will return to a previous host country
Chris Jackson/Getty Prince Harry attends the Invictus Games in Germany on Sept. 13, 2023
Plans are in motion for Prince Harry’s eighth iteration of the Invictus Games, and it might just be coming back to the United States!
On May 1, the Invictus Games Foundation revealed the shortlist of cities hoping to host the 2027 Invictus Games, with just two contenders: Washington, D.C. and Birmingham, U.K.
This means that the adaptive sports tournament for service personnel and veterans that the Duke of Sussex founded in 2014 will either be held in England, where he was born and raised, or the U.S., where he now resides with his wife, Meghan Markle, and their children, Prince Archie, 4, and Princess Lilibet, 2. Either city would also take the Invictus Games competition back to a previous host country, as the inaugural Invictus Games were held in London in 2014 and the second tournament was held in Orlando in 2016.
The Invictus Games Foundation unveiled the two finalist cities following a process launched in 2023, and a final decision from the board of trustees is expected to be made by the end of July.
“We were delighted to receive such a strong field of applications to host the Invictus Games in 2027, which gives us tremendous confidence for this next iteration of the Games following Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 presented by ATCO and Boeing,” Lord Allen, Chair of the Invictus Games Foundation, said in a statement. “Both cities now shortlisted for 2027 have kept the experiences of the competitors and supporters at their core, building different but hugely exciting bids. We look forward to the next stage of the process and selecting another inspirational iteration of the games over the summer.”
According to the organization, Washington, D.C., and Birmingham each have unique appeal as potential venues. The foundation said that the bid from the American capital has “outlined several potential venues in and around the city, with a focus on the George Washington University campus, alongside an indicative sports schedule which includes the nine core Invictus Games sports, plus the addition of esports.”
Meanwhile, the bid from the U.K. government for Birmingham “focuses on the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, and draws the connection to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Selly Oak and wider Defence Medical assets in the region. Birmingham also seeks to utilize the nine core sports alongside esports, as well as exploring the addition of a team triathlon as a potential new sport. ” Birmingham is about three hours north of London and one of England’s most populous cities.
Joshua Sammer/Getty Prince Harry speaks at a press conference at the Merkur Spiel Arena during the Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023 – One Year To Go launch event on Sept. 6, 2022 in Dusseldorf, Germany.
The 2027 cycle will be the eighth Invictus Games, following the competitions in London (2014), Orlando (2016), Toronto (2017), Sydney (2018), The Hague (2022, bumped from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic) and Düsseldorf in September 2023.
The next Invictus Games will be held in Vancouver and Whistler, Canada, in February 2025. For the first time, the competition will include winter sports such as alpine skiing, snowboarding, biathlon, Nordic skiing, skeleton and wheelchair curling in addition to the core Invictus sports of indoor rowing, sitting volleyball, swimming, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby and more.
Prince Harry and Meghan, 42, kicked off the countdown to the upcoming Invictus Games in British Columbia at the One Year to Go celebration in February, where the Duke of Sussex tried some of the new winter sports for himself.
Andrew Chin/Getty Prince Harry (right) tries a sit-ski at the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistlers 2025’s One Year To Go Winter Training Camp on Feb. 14, 2024 while Meghan Markle (left) watches on.
While the location of the 2027 Games won’t be revealed until the summer, Prince Harry previously told PEOPLE that there was “no picking sides” for him between the U.K. and U.S. teams.
“There’s been a fun dynamic between the U.K. and the U.S. teams since the inception of the Games back in 2014, partly because they’ve always been the two biggest teams. I always love catching up with all the competitors, old and new, across all the nations, and watching them excel at their chosen sport and heal in the process,” Prince Harry said.
“I feel like I have a special bond with all the teams, and I’m very much a supporter of the sport, as opposed to the winning. So there’s no picking sides for me!” he added.
Chris Jackson/Getty Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the Invictus Games in Duesseldorf, Germany on Sept. 13, 2023.
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It’s a special time for the Invictus Games as the international sports tournament for wounded, injured and sick service personnel and veterans marks its 10th anniversary. The Duke of Sussex is set to step out in London on May 8 for a Service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul’s Cathedral to mark the occasion, where he will deliver a reading.
From there, he will travel to Nigeria with the Duchess of Sussex at the invitation of its Chief of Defense Staff, the highest-ranking military official, for a visit highlighting the Invictus Games. Nigeria made its Invictus debut in Düsseldorf in September, and the Minister of Defense, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar Badaru, has expressed willingness for the country to host the games in the future.
Read the original article on People.