HIGH ACHIEVERS: Six Ottawa-based military-athletes represent Canada at Invictus Games

By Martin Cleary

The seventh Invictus Games Vancouver/Whistler 2025 arrived at the perfect time for Ottawa’s Melanie Dumas.

A major in the Army and a dental officer in the Royal Canadian Dental Corps, Dumas is fast approaching her departure from the Canadian Forces.

During her service time, she participated in a variety of Soldier On programs, which were established to “contribute to the recovery of ill and injured Canadian Armed Forces members and veterans by providing opportunities and resources through sport (as well as) recreational and creative activities.”

Her involvement inspired Dumas to apply, and later be accepted, as a member of Team Canada for the seventh Invictus Games, which opened last Saturday and is scheduled to close Sunday.

There are six athletes from Ottawa participating in the Games in a variety of sports along with another six, who have connections to Petawawa, ON, as either their current residence, hometown or both. More than 500 athletes from 25 countries are participating in the Games, which started in 2014.

“I was able to find a new tribe of warriors and relight my passion for the great outdoors and active lifestyle,” Dumas said on the Canadian Invictus Meet the Team website.

“As I transition out of the military after a 25-year career, the incredible opportunity to be part of Team Canada couldn’t have come at a better time in my life.”

Dumas, the mother of two children, has been posted to Bagotville, PQ, Valcartier, PQ, Moose Jaw, HMCS Preserver and Ottawa during her career. She also was deployed once to Bosnia.

While providing care to her Canadian Armed Forces patients, Dumas put aside her own trauma and injuries for many years. When the chronic pain started to affect her physical and mental health, she looked to the Soldier On program and Invictus Games for comfort and motivation.

Dumas entered the Invictus Games with a wide-ranging sports agenda, competing in biathlon and skeleton and playing for Team Unconquered 1 in wheelchair basketball.

In the women’s novice IBI4-Open biathlon race, she placed fourth in six minutes, 50.60 seconds. Putting down her skis, poles and rifle, she hopped onto a skeleton sled and was sixth in the ISK3 single-run competition in 32.85 seconds, which left her 0.33 seconds behind the gold medallist.

As a wheelchair basketball player, she wore No. 7 for Team Unconquered 1, which lost 16-2 to The Netherlands and 13-2 to France. Dumas scored the only basket for her team against France with 18 seconds remaining in the second and final quarter.

Pauline Lythgoe, who splits her time between Ottawa and Petawawa, and Mona Robillard of Ottawa formed half of the Canadian wheelchair curling team. Robillard played third, while Lythgoe was the lead.

Canada finished fourth overall, after losing to Israel 3-2 in an extra end during the bronze-medal match. In the preliminary round, Canada lost 5-1 to the United Kingdom, but finished with shutout wins over Team Unconquered 3 5-0 and Nigeria 4-0.

Korea handed Canada an 8-0 defeat in the semifinals, which resulted in a berth in the third-place game.

Robillard and Lythgoe also tested their athletic abilities in swimming. In her women’s 50-metre breaststroke ISE heat, Robillard was seventh in 1:20.58, which left her 33rd in the final standings. She didn’t start her alpine sit-ski race.

Lythgoe was eighth in her women’s 50-metre freestyle ISE heat and 40th overall in 1:19.97. She didn’t compete in her other three scheduled races.

Encouraged by her friends, Robillard, who reached a low point in 2021 with her physical and mental injuries, accepted the challenge of exploring the Invictus Games.

“I really thought I would crack under pressure, yet the love and support from all of the Invictus family helped me overcome that fear,” said Robillard, an Army supply technician who has had eight different postings across Canada and also served in Namibia, Aviano (Italy) and four separate tours in Afghanistan.

Robillard, a survivor of military sexual assault, approached the Games with the assistance of her best friend and hopes her story could help others.

Lythgoe, who served in the Army and later in the Air Force as a material management technician, was posted for 18 years in Petawawa, but now works for Director General Aerospace Equipment Program Management in Ottawa/Gatineau.

Despite her injuries, she has continued to help others with similar physical and mental challenges through hard work and goal setting.

Lythgoe will retire next month and being able to participate in the Invictus Games is an exciting part of her departure.

“This would be a highlight in my career and to show other people, family and colleagues that even with injuries you are valued and chosen, you just need to put yourself out there and learn new ways to conquer your next dream,” Lythgoe said.

Ottawa’s Alin Mirea served as a combat diver with the Royal Canadian Engineers and had seven postings in Canada and two tours in Afghanistan in his 26-year career.

Currently working through Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and a concussion, he wanted to be part of the Invictus Games “to connect with individuals who share similar backgrounds, seeking to find additional peer support groups that have been beneficial to him in the past,” according to his Team Canada bio.

At the Games, Mirea took part in skeleton, alpine skiing and swimming.

He was sixth in the ISK2 single-run skeleton race in 33.11 seconds and only 0.41 seconds behind the winner. In his men’s Int-Adv IAS4-Open and MFI alpine ski race, he was 14th in 20.03 seconds.

Mirea had three middle-of-the-pack finishes in his three men’s ISE swimming heats – 100-metre freestyle, fourth, 36.67 seconds, 16th overall; 50-metre breaststroke, fifth, 46.93 seconds, 31st overall; and 50-metre freestyle, fourth, 35.07 seconds, 43rd overall.

Louise Smith and Mike Drover, both of Ottawa, were part of Canada’s wheelchair basketball team, which split its two games, but missed the playoff round. Canada defeated Germany 11-8 and lost 12-8 to New Zealand.

Smith, who scored a two-point field goal against Germany, also competed in biathlon, where she was 10th in the women’s novice IBI4-open race in 11:19.00.

When Drover wasn’t working on his shooting skills, he was 30th in the ISK3 single-run skeleton race in 33.23 seconds, and 34th in the men’s Int-Adv IAS-open and MFI alpine ski race in 23.38 seconds.

A former mechanical engineer in the Air Force, Smith had a passion for activity, especially if it involved volleyball, soccer, badminton, softball and slo-pitch.

She learned about the Invictus Games through conversations at Soldier On events and was captivated by the stories of camaraderie and shared experiences.

A former marine engineer and clearance diver in the Royal Canadian Navy, Drover was deployed five times to Afghanistan and once to Iraq. He provided close personal protection to high-ranking military and governmental officials in Afghanistan and was the first person to take a military working dog into an operational theatre in that country.

He viewed the Invictus Games as a chance to rediscover the sense of community and camaraderie he once experienced in the military.

The six Canadian athletes with Petawawa connections are Cheryl Belanger, an Army medical technician; Jerome Boisvert-Boucher, an Army combat engineer; Jessica Guerin, an Army personnel selection officer; Lee Jarratt, an Air Force training development officer; Mark Jones, an Air Force air weapons tech; and Alexander Slade, a member of the Army infantry.