Team Afghan Unconquered: Overcoming Adversity on Their Journey to the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025

Every team and competitor at the Invictus Games has a story to tell about the journey they have been on to get to the start line. For Team Afghan Unconquered that journey is one of true courage and resilience.

In our film Lives Forever Changed – The Story of Team Afghan Unconquered, Invictus Games Foundation Director of Communications, Sam Newell and Team Afghan Unconquered competitor, Paul Nunnari, talk about the adversity and challenges they both had to overcome for Team Afghan Unconquered to be part of the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025.

Afghanistan has been an important member of the Invictus Community Of Nations from the beginning. Since 2014, Afghanistan has not only had soldiers representing their home nation but has also seen military personnel competing at the Games from a range of nations that have been involved in conflicts in Afghanistan.

Following the postponement of the Invictus Games The Hague 2020 due to the pandemic, the Afghanistan team’s participation in the delayed competition in 2022 was thrown into doubt when their country experienced a sudden regime change following the withdrawal of US and UK troops in August 2021.

After the reinstatement of Taliban rule, the Afghanistan team that was set to compete at The Hague 2020 suddenly found themselves at risk of persecution in their own country due to their affiliation with the “pro-Western” Invictus Games.

It was during this time that Director of Communications for the Invictus Games Foundation, Sam Newell, started receiving messages on social media from members of the Afghanistan team about the threats they were getting due to their involvement in the Invictus Games.

Sam quickly realised that this was a serious situation and that their lives were in potential danger. Sam and the Invictus Games Foundation team felt that they couldn’t sit by and do nothing, WhatsApp groups were set up, frantic calls to partner organisations and other emergency lines of communication were established as Sam and the team worked round the clock to ensure that the competitors could find safe passage out of Afghanistan.

After many weeks of uncertainty and sleepless nights, Sam and the Invictus Games Foundation team heard the news they had all been waiting for. Some members of the Afghanistan team and their families were able to get on a flight to a refugee camp in United Arab Emirates (UAE).

While they hurriedly packed their belongings, the one thing they ensured that they packed was their Invictus Games Team Afghanistan kit, something they thought was too precious to leave behind.

While they had secured a way out of Afghanistan – this was not the end of their journey to safety. Conditions in the refugee camp were deteriorating and the Invictus Games Foundation team now realized they needed to get them to a country that was welcoming refugees and would provide them with a safe place to restart their lives.

Fortunately, fellow Invictus Games nations such as USA, Australia and Canada welcomed the Team Afghanistan members with open arms.

In our video, Sam explains the emotions he felt upon meeting some of the Afghanistan team members for the first time in person. He recalls the meeting in Sydney, saying: “the competitors instantly threw their arms around me, called me brother and introduced me to their children.”

As events unfolded in Afghanistan it was clear that they would no longer be able to officially compete under the Team Afghanistan banner.

Attention now turned to ensuring that Afghanistan competitors could complete their ambition to participate in the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025. The Invictus Games Foundation made a commitment to ensuring they could compete under a newly created team name – Team Afghan Unconquered.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, many of the Team Afghan Unconquered competitors were unable to travel to Canada to compete in this year’s Invictus Games. Although they were not able to attend the Invictus Games this time round, their preparations gave them a renewed purpose and a goal to aim for.

In a special moment of recognition to their hard work and dedication, the team were celebrated at the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 Opening Ceremony. Paul Nunnari, was given the honour of carrying the Team Afghan Unconquered flag and received a warm reception from the 40,000 strong crowd.

Paul was also the sole competitor for Team Afghan Unconquered at Vancouver Whistler 2025, competing in the Swimming at the UBC Aquatics Centre.

Team Afghan Unconquered competitors and the Invictus Games Foundation have promised to continue to work together to help them realize their dream of getting more competitors to take part in the next Invictus Games.

“The journey to getting to an Invictus Games is just as important as the final destination. And the journey to the Games is about more than just developing sporting skills, its about building community and connections with others,” said Paul.