The 2025 Invictus Games are over.
Throughout the event, we covered stories focused on athletes' triumphs, Prince Harry's re-connection with First Nations communities, and the positive feedback celebrities gave when asked about the Invictus Games and its mission.
It's always a bittersweet moment when the international adaptive sports event comes to a close, but the ceremony held to celebrate the competitors' achievements was one of the best in recent memory!
Hello! Magazine's initial coverage of the event showed that big name acts like The War and Treaty and Jelly Roll performed select songs for the audience in between special speeches from Justin Trudeau and Prince Harry himself.
Performances from the Naden Band of the Royal Canadian Navy and the Band of the 15th Field Regiment also made the ticket for the emotional show as well.
The end of a momentous week filled with love, competition, and inspiration
According to Hello! Magazine, Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, gave a rousing speech thanking Prince Harry for his service and leaving him close to tears.
"As someone that you roped in early on in my time as Prime Minister, I can testify to the energy, the dedication, the commitment this man has to you and to this ideal," Trudeau said while speaking to the athletes who competed in the event about Prince Harry.
After turning his attention to the Duke of Sussex, Trudeau continued by saying, "You have changed the lives of so many people for the better and for that we all owe you the deepest debt of gratitude."
During his time to shine, Jelly Roll sang two songs from his impressive catalog and gave his own remarks to the veterans in attendance.
"I want to be clear about what's happening right now while I'm on this stage," Jelly Roll began. "I am an overweight man with a microphone, the real heroes are the athletes and the families who are in this building right now."
Hello! Magazine's coverage explains that Jelly Roll wanted his music to serve as a beacon of hope for service members experiencing self-doubt or depression.
In the middle of his extremely vulnerable speech, the country music superstar told the warrior athletes listening: "If you ever hear that voice in your head saying, you can be anything but great, it's a liar."
In his own tear jerking speech to commemorate the warriors we've lost throughout the years, Prince Harry said, "To our comrades, friends or loved ones who we lost to battle or to suicide, tonight we honor you too."
The Duke's speech touched on memories from his own service, the sacrifices service members' families make, and the challenges we're all bound to face in the future. However, Prince Harry promised that the Invictus Games would push forward and hold its next edition in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Birmingham's turn hosting the Invictus Games is expected to happen in 2027.