COLUMBIA, S.C. - U.S. Army Soldier 1st Lt. Jani Merritt, assigned to Joint Force Headquarters, South Carolina National Guard, competed in the 2026 Warrior Games at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, San Antonio, Texas, June 13-20. Representing the Army, she competed in service-based team and individual events, including archery, powerlifting, and track. Merritt kicked off the games by winning gold in powerlifting, the very first event of the games, which became the catalyst for medaling in other events. “It kind of sets the stage, sets the pace and kind of motivates everybody to see,” said Merritt. Although Merritt was there to compete, the camaraderie among the different branches was high and the athletes motivated each other to hit personal records and to achieve their best all while mentoring other athletes. Because Merritt has competed for the last two years, she is able to mentor up-and-coming athletes to prepare for the rigors of the physical and mental aspects of competition. “You’re not there just for yourself; you’re there for Team Army; you’re there for other competitors,” said Merritt. Merritt trains year-round and competes almost every three weeks in competitions at local, state, and national levels. Now Merritt will train to compete for Team USA in the Invictus Games, an international Paralympic multi-sport competition adapted from the Warrior Games. She plans to keep competing in local, state, and national sporting events and to continue proudly representing the U.S. Army and the South Carolina National Guard. Merritt received medals in the following: Gold Medals in Recurve (Team: Archery), Under 55kg weight division (Individual: Powerlifting), 200 meters 3.0 (Individual: Track); Silver Medals in the female recurve standing (Individual: Archery), 100 meters 3.0, 400 meters 3.0 and 800 meters 3.0 (Individual: Track). The Warrior Games brings together more than 200 athletes to compete in adaptive Paralympic sports for wounded, ill, and injured service members from all branches of service.