Invictus Ink: How some competitors made their experience at the games permanent

As the 2025 Invictus Games in Vancouver and Whistler come to a close, CTV News spoke to competitors who are receiving tattoos to commemorate their experiences.

The 2025 Invictus Games officially ended after nine days of competition and camaraderie and many of the athletes left not only with life-long memories and friendships, but with a permanent, visual reminder of their experience.

The games offered up the free tattoos to all competitors in a small room at its Vancouver Convention Centre headquarters.

The service was enormously popular and the demand was non-stop.

Athletes could choose from several Invictus-inspired designs, including a Douglas fir tree, and the actual logo of the games: “IAm.”

Cindy Chawner, who served in the Australian Air Force for 24 years, knew she was going to get inked before even arriving to compete at the games.

“It’s just that permanent reminder – where we’ve been, what we’ve done, and the importance of it,” she said, while tattoo artist Ayasha Dunphy began the process of stencilling, then drawing the “IAm” design on Cindy’s ankle.

By the end of the games Dunphy figured she had inked at least 90 competitors.

“It’s very rewarding knowing you’re giving somebody something that is healing in a way to them,” she said. “You can tell that for a lot of the people it is very, very meaningful for them to be getting these tattoos.”

Former Israeli Defence Forces member Daniel Zolotarevsky also chose the “IAm” logo after briefly considering the skyline of Vancouver.

“But then I realized the ‘IAm,’ it represents all of the things,” he said. “All of what the veterans are feeling here.”

Zolotarevsky was also feeling the pain of the new ink on his calf, visible but bloody, still covered by a clear bandage. But that pain will fade, while the memories of his time competing here will last a lifetime.

“You feel like you’re not alone in a lot of ways,” he said. “To be a part of something big, bigger than you and that it’s okay to be injured.”

For Team UK competitor Rik Francis, the placement of his tattoo was as meaningful as the design itself.

“I had quite an issue, quite a history with my shoulders,” he said shortly after rolling up his sleeve to receive his ink. “So, I’ve now had my shoulder replaced.”

He chose the Douglas fir design, and had it inked right on that surgical site.

“The big tree is strong and represents the strength and the growth,” he said. “And for me, I wanted to commemorate the moment that I’ve been here. So having that on there, on the site of my shoulder replacement, it feels right.”

As she checks out her new IAm design Cindy Chawner thinks about those two powerful words she now has forever etched on her ankle, and what they mean for her journey from injured to Invictus 2025.

“For me, a lot of it is about being enough,” she said. “And I’ve really questioned that a lot over the years. Am I enough?”

Smiling she reads it again. “And I am.”

By Shelley Moore, CTV News Vancouver