The second day of finals competitions in Orlando, Florida saw the UK take 36 medals at the Invictus Games 2016.
The Invictus Games are for wounded, sick and injured personnel and veterans and the semi-finals and finals began on Monday (May 9). Fourteen nations are competing across 10 sports.
It was a fantastic day for the competitors taking part in the track and field events with a haul of 35 medals for the UK team, adding to 53 from the previous day's sports.
In the seated volleyball, single leg amputee Lance Corporal Netra Rana, and his team mates of veterans, came out on top in the semi-finals in a close match against Georgia. The UK won the first set comfortably 25-15 but then lost the second set. With it all riding on the final set, the atmosphere in the stadium was electric and the UK crowd helped the team make it to the finals with a solid 15-8.
Facing the US hosts in the final, the home crowd and visitors made sure their teams had energetic support. The US won the first set 25-21 but the extremely close second set was taken by the UK 27-25. But the UK could not maintain that momentum and lost 15-8 in the final set and had to settle for silver.
Some of the many highlights on the track were UK team mates Jennifer Warren and Nerys Pearce going head to head in all four of their running events – the 1500m, 100m, 200m and 400m – taking silver and bronze respectively every time. And UK's David Henson, a Paralympic athlete, easily took gold in his 200m dash, beating the US with six seconds to spare. The men’s relay was a surprise bronze for the team, which was only signed up at the last minute.
Field events were as successful, with Royal Marine Fergus Hurst taking silver in both the men’s discus and men’s shot put- he threw distances of 35.61m and 10.95m in the searing temperatures of Orlando. He said:
I’m absolutely delighted. Really really pleased with how I threw – it was a tough competition and much warmer than we are used to but I’m so proud to take home the silver medal for the UK Team.
After getting three medals on the first day, below-the-knee left leg amputee Petty Officer Sean Gaffney got yet another medal, this time a bronze in the relay. This adds to his golds in heavyweight powerlifting and one-minute rowing and silver in the four-minute rowing race. He said:
Track and field is the only sport this year where all nations are participating. It is the largest UK team sport with 51 members and only 10% of them competed at London 2014.
After getting three medals on the first day, below-the-knee left leg amputee Petty Officer Sean Gaffney got yet another medal, this time a bronze in the relay. This adds to his golds in heavyweight powerlifting and one-minute rowing and silver in the four-minute rowing race. He said:
I am having the most fantastic time here. The atmosphere is amazing, and the camaraderie in the team is really fantastic, everyone is there for everyone else. As soon as our events are finished we will go off and support the next team - it is a real family feeling. For the men's benchpress I did my first lift and it went really well. I knew I had taken gold. It ended with my personal best of 171 kilos, so I was very happy with that. From there I did the rowing events and was up against stiff competition from Jordan Beecher. We made a gentleman's agreement that he would take gold in the four-minute row and I would take silver and then the other way around for the one-minute print. Luckily it worked out just like that.
The second games are taking place at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney resort. They were launched by Prince Harry, who cheered on the teams in the volleyball semi finals and finals.
There were also medal ceremonies for archery and cycling last night, for finals that took place on Monday.
Updates on the Games will be posted on this blog as the competition progresses. The full list of UK medals so far is below.
| Sport | UK Competitor | Medal |
| Women’s lightweight powerlifting | Sarah Claricoates | Bronze |
| Women’s heavyweight powerlifting | Nerys Pearce | Silver |
| Men’s lightweight powerlifting | Michael Yule | Gold |
| Men’s heavyweight powerlifting | Petty Officer Sean Gaffney | Gold |
| Men’s heavyweight powerlifting | Ross Austen | Silver |
| Men’s heavyweight powerlifting | Corporal Ian Taylor | Bronze |
| IHB1 Men’s Handbike Time Trial | Josh Boggi | Silver |
| IHB1 Men’s Handbike Time Trial | David Sandles | Bronze |
| IHB1 women’s Handbike Time Trial | Jennifer Warren | Gold |
| IHB1 women’s Handbike Time Trial | Joanna Martin | Bronze |
| IRB1 Men’s Road Bike Time Trial | Andrew Kelsey | Bronze |
| IRB2 Men's Road Bike Time Trial | Jaco Van Gass | Gold |
| IRB2 Men's Road Bike Time Trial | Craig Preece | Silver |
| IRB3 Women’s Road Bike Time Trial | Donna Davies | Bronze |
| IRB3 Men's Road Bike Time Trial 1 | Michael Westwell | Gold |
| IRB3 Men's Road Bike Time Trial 1 | Andrew Perrin | Silver |
| IRecB1 Men's Recumbent Bike Time Trial 1 | Robert Cromey-Hawke | Gold |
| IRecB1 Men's Recumbent Bike Time Trial 1 | Paul Vice | Silver |
| IRecB1 Men's Recumbent Bike Time Trial 1 | Michael Matthews | Bronze |
| IHB1 Men's Hand Bike Race 1 | Josh Boggi | Silver |
| IHB1 Men's Hand Bike Race 1 | David Sandles Bronze | |
| IHB2 Women's Hand Bike Race | Jennifer Warren | Silver |
| IRecB1 Men's Recumbent Bike Race 1 | Robert Cromey-Hawke | Gold |
| IRecB1 Men's Recumbent Bike Race 1 | Paul Vice | Silver |
| IRB2 Men's Road Bike Circuit Race | Craig Preece | Gold |
| IRB2 Men's Road Bike Circuit Race | Jaco Van Gass | Silver |
| IRB3 Women's Road Bike Circuit Race | Donna Davies | Silver |
| IRB3 Women's Road Bike Circuit Race | Sally Orange | Bronze |
| IRB3 Men's Road Bike Circuit Race | Andrew Perrin | Gold |
| IRB3 Men's Road Bike Circuit Race | Michael Westwell | Silver |
| Archery Novice recurve | Gareth Paterson | Gold |
| Archery Open recurve | Angelito Barbierato | Gold |
| Archery Open recurve | Chris Macfayden | Silver |
| Archery Team - Novice recurve | Martin Clapton Gareth Paterson Matthew Elliot |
Gold |
| Archery Team - Open recurve | Angelito Barbierato Chris Macfayden Carl Tarry |
Gold |
| Archery Team - Open compound | Andy Phillips Jon Flint Adrian Grobler |
Bronze |
| Rowing – IR1 Men’s 4 min | Josh Boggi | Gold |
| IR1 Men’s 4 min | Lamin Manneh | Silver |
| IR2 Women’s 4 min | Nerys Pearce | Silver |
| IR2 Women’s 4 min | Joanna Martin | Bronze |
| IR5 Men’s 4 min | Jordan Beecher | Gold |
| IR5 Men’s 4 min | Sean Gaffney | Silver |
| IR4 Men’s 4 min | Scott Meenagh | Gold |
| IR4 Men’s 4 min | William Prosser | Gold (joint) |
| IR6 Women’s 4 min | Laura Knowles | Silver |
| IR6 Men’s 4 min | Fergus Hurst | Gold |
| IR1 Men’s 1 min | Josh Boggi | Gold |
| IR2 Women’s 2 min | Nerys Pearce | Gold |
| IR2 Women’s 2 min | Joanna Martin | Silver |
| IR5 Men’s 1 min | Sean Gaffney | Gold |
| IR5 Men’s 1 min | Jordan Beecher | Silver |
| IR4 Men’s 1 min | William Prosser | Silver |
| IR4 Men’s 1 min | Scott Mennagh | Bronze |
| IR6 Women’s 1 min | Laura Knowles | Bronze |
| IR6 Men’s 1 min | Fergus Hurst | Gold |
| Men 100m Dash IT2 | Luke Sinnott | Silver |
| Women 100m Dash IT4/IT5 | Jennifer Warren | Silver |
| Women 100m Dash IT4/IT5 | Nerys Pearce | Bronze |
| Men 100m Dash IT4 | Andrew Bracey | Silver |
| Men 1500m Run IT1 | Craig Preece | Gold |
| Men 1500m Run IT3 | Ibrar Ali | Bronze |
| Women 1500m IT4/IT5 | Jennifer Warren | Silver |
| Women 1500m IT4/IT5 | Nerys Pearce | Bronze |
| Men 1500m Run IT4 | Andrew Bracey | Bronze |
| Women 1500m IT7 | Donna Davies | Bronze |
| Men 1500m Run IT7 | Luke Wigman | Gold |
| Men 200m Dash IT2 | David Henson | Gold |
| Women 200m IT4/IT5 | Jennifer Warren | Silver |
| Women 200m IT4/IT5 | Nerys Pearce | Bronze |
| Men 200m Dash IT4 | Andrew Bracey | Silver |
| Men 200m Dash IT7 | Sam Stocks | Gold |
| Men 400m Dash IT2 | Luke Sinnott | Gold |
| Men 400m Dash IT3 | Ibrar Ali | Bronze |
| Women 400m IT4/IT5 | Jennifer Warren | Silver |
| Women 400m IT4/IT5 | Nerys Pearce | Bronze |
| Men 400m Dash IT4 | Andrew Bracey | Bronze |
| Men 400m Dash IT7 | Luke Wigman | Bronze |
| Women Discus IF5 | Vicky Parrett | Gold |
| Women Discus IF5 | Kelly Layden-Farrer | Silver |
| Men Discus IF6 | Lamin Manneh | Bronze |
| Women discus IF6/IF7 | Nerys Pearce | Gold |
| Women Discus IF6/IF7 | Joanna Martin | Bronze |
| Women Discus IF5 | Vicky Parrett | Gold |
| Women Discus IF5 | Kelly Layden-Farrer | Bronze |
| Men shot put IF6 | Lamin Manneh | Bronze |
| Women discus IF6/IF7 | Nerys Pearce | Gold |
| Women discus IF6/IF7 | Joanna Martin | Bronze |
| Men Discus IF1 | Fergus Hurst | Silver |
| Men shot put IF1 | Fergus Hurst | Silver |
| Mixed 4X100m Relay 4X100 | James McGill Paul Vice Sean Gaffney Chibueze Nduka, |
Bronze |
| Seated volleyball | Team | Silver |