Prince Harry Races Face-First Down Bobsled Track as Meghan Markle Cheers Him On in Canada

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are checking out the new winter sports additions for Invictus Games competitors

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are continuing their sporty week at the Invictus Games Winter Training Camp in Canada.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped out on Thursday for the second day of the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025's One Year to Go celebration.

Prince Harry braved the skeleton track at the Whistler Sliding Center, laying head-first on his stomach on the skeleton-bobsled to fly down a frozen track. Meghan, who excitedly filmed Harry's run on her phone, and dozens of spectators cheered him on by ringing yellow cowbells.

The Duke of Sussex later went down on a second run. When a photographer suggested Meghan take a turn, she quipped, "No way!"

Prince Harry, 39, and Meghan, 42, are spending the week at the Invictus Games Winter Training Camp organized a year ahead of the event taking place in Vancouver and Whistler in 2025. The camp brings together team managers, coaches and competitors to experience winter adaptive sports before the official competition next year.

The Invictus Games 2025 will be the first winter edition of the competition with the introduction of new sports. Next February, athletes can go for the gold in alpine skiing, snowboarding, biathlon, Nordic skiing, skeleton and wheelchair curling for the first time in addition to the core Invictus sports of indoor rowing, sitting volleyball, swimming, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby and more.

"As Invictus continues to adapt and evolve, I am extremely excited to announce that the Invictus Games Foundation has selected Canada to host the first-ever Winter Hybrid Games in 2025," Prince Harry said in a statement around the news.

Prince Harry on the track! pic.twitter.com/Gznt1aHwTE

— Janine Henni (@JP_Henni) February 15, 2024

Related: All the Best Photos from Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Trip to Canada for the Invictus Games Countdown

On Wednesday, the couple hit the slopes to meet athletes using adaptive skis and their guides. Harry took a turn sit-skiing, and Meghan made sure to capture the moment by borrowing a phone to snap a photo (she reportedly said she wanted to "show the kids," referring to their 4-year-old son, Prince Archie, and 2-year-old daughter, Princess Lilibet).

Stefan Nommensen is the Netherlands' "chef de mission," a role that involves "overlooking the team and the friends and family," he tells PEOPLE, after competing in the 2018 Invictus Games in Sydney.

Speaking about learning winter sports in Canada, Nommensen says, "It's amazing how the adaptive sports trainers are able to teach and train. Imagine — in the Netherlands, we are below sea level, and we don't have any mountains. A lot of us, particularly those with impairments, haven't been exposed to winter sports. That will be, actually, a real good added value to the Invictus Games."

Nommensen says that Prince Harry is "so natural" with the competitors.

"He's really the ambassador of the Invictus Games," he says. "The way he speaks, the way he acts, the way he is involved with the competitors — that's great and very important for our competitors and staff but also their friends and family."

Rasmus Penno, a bilateral leg amputee from Estonia who previously competed in indoor rowing at the Sydney Games, says the best word to describe his experience at the Winter Training Camp is simply "fun."

In Sydney, Penno briefly met the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. "They were really kind," he says. "They support every competitor and [it] gives us so much to see them here. We feel it. It's hard to put in words. It's just important to us."

Peacemaker Azuegbulam is planning to compete in his second Invictus Games for Nigeria after winning the first gold medal for an African team at the 2023 event in Düsseldorf, Germany. Of course, he had someone special cheering him on: Meghan, who had recently learned she was 43% Nigerian thanks to a genealogy test.

"It makes me feel good. It makes me feel loved that she really cares about Team Nigeria," he tells PEOPLE about Meghan's support. "We are happy for the love being shown by them and appreciate the efforts to bring the Invictus Games to Nigeria."

Ivan Morera, who represented Team U.S.A. in Germany last year and will compete again in Canada, tells PEOPLE that he's learning how to ski and snowboard.

"I love to challenge myself just to build resilience and show that I'm still capable of being physically active even with my adaptation. I've had a great time here," he says.

Morera, who is a single-arm amputee following an incident while he was serving Afghanistan, says, "I look forward to meeting Prince Harry, just shaking his hand and, 'Hey, thank you for your service and thank you for this opportunity."

"I have a lot of respect for Prince Harry," he says. "I believe he understands the military personnel very well because of his experience in Afghanistan and his willingness to put his life on the line for his country. He has shown that to us by creating the Invictus Games, taking inspiration from the Warrior Games in the United States and creating an international competition."

Earlier on Thursday, Meghan and Prince Harry visited the Mount Currie Community Centre on the traditional territory of the Lil’wat Nation to learn about their wheelchair basketball program. Chief Dean Nelson invited the couple after meeting the Duke of Sussex in November, according to a post on the couple's new website.

"Upon their arrival, The Duke and Duchess received a tradition welcome and were presented symbolic gifts for their family including a traditional basket which takes over a year to make and a hand carved cedar art piece symbolizing strength," the post revealed. "The couple were humbled to be invited and extend their deepest gratitude to Chief Nelson, Chief Gélpcal and the people of the Lil’wat Nation for their generous hospitality and kindness."

Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!

Following cycles in London (2014), Orlando (2016), Toronto (2017) and Sydney (2018), the Hague (when COVID-19 pushed the event back to 2022) and Düsseldorf (2023), the upcoming cycle in Canada will be the first time the sports tournament has returned to a previous host country.

Canada is a special place for Prince Harry and Meghan on a personal level, and the Invictus Games marked an important moment early in their relationship. The two famously made their debut as a couple at the 2017 Invictus Games in Toronto, where Meghan lived while filming Suits.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.