A team of disabled Ukrainian military veterans based in Brighton are to compete in the Warrior Games in America.
The team, made up of more than 30 disabled athletes, will fly to Orlando after training in Brighton for the past five weeks.
Blind Veterans UK has helped to host the team as they could not train at home in Ukrine due to the war.
Ukrainian team manager Pavlo Kononenko said: “Our team are going to compete in the Warrior Games to not only win medals but to also keep the world’s attention on all that is happening in Ukraine and to show everybody that our will to win is never gone.
“There is no way we would have been able to train in Ukraine in such good and peaceful conditions and we all agree that the level of support we have had here has been the highest standard.”
The team will compete in sports such as sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball throughout the tournament, before flying back to Poland after the games.
Lesley Garven, Blind Veterans Brighton centre manager, said: “All of us at Blind Veterans UK wanted to help in any way we could when we heard about the opportunity to host the team.
“The amount of work put in by all the staff at our Brighton centre has been immense and everybody has stepped up, they have all been fantastic.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here