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San Antonio To Host Warrior Games In 2020 'To Get Us Back In The Fight'

Carson Frame / TPR News
The Wounded Warrior Regiment detachment at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston

Next summer, San Antonio will host the Warrior Games, an international competition for military members and veterans who are wounded, injured or ill. Hundreds of athletes from around the world are expected to compete in the Olympic-style games, sponsored by the Department of Defense.

City officials announced the decision Thursday outside the Wounded Warrior Detachment on Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston.

“This place is a special place because it gives hope to all of us wounded warriors,” said Cpl. Mathew Maddux, the 2020 Warrior Games ambassador for the Marine Corps. “To get us back in the fight, get us the motivation to keep going.”

Maddux gestured at a number of military athletes gathered for the ceremony.

“After overcoming significant illnesses and injuries, these athletes prove that life can continue on," he said. "They are reclaiming their lives and live by the code, ‘Etiam in pugna,’ or, ‘Still in the fight.’ ”

Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the city began talks with the Pentagon last year.

Credit Carson Frame | TPR News
Cpl. Mathew Maddux, the 2020 Warrior Games ambassador for the Marine Corps.

“The initial conversations began back in 2018. San Antonio continues to show that it can pull off high-quality events better than anyone in the country,” he said. “We saw that with the Final Four just this past year, and we continue to knock the socks off of their expectations. So we’re glad to see this.”

Local sports and entertainment venues are still being explored to house the games, according to Gen. Juan Ayala of the City Office of Military Affairs.

“We’re still looking,” he said. “But we’ll use our major facilities: our convention center, the Alamodome and some of the swimming venues around at our universities.”

The 2020 Warrior Games are set for June and will feature adaptive sports like archery, cycling, shooting, swimming and wheelchair basketball.

San Antonio is the first city in Texas to host the event.

Carson Frame can be reached at Carson@TPR.org and on Twitter at @carson_frame.

Carson Frame was Texas Public Radio's military and veterans' issues reporter from July 2017 until March 2024.