2018 Arctic Winter Games

The 2018 Arctic Winter Games, officially known with the slogan "Find Your Power!!!", is a winter multi-sport event which took place in the South Slave Region of the Northwest Territories, between 18–24 March 2018.

2018 Arctic Winter Games South Slave
Host cityFort Smith
Hay River
K'atl'odeeche First Nation
CountryCanada
Northwest Territories
MottoFind Your Power!!!
Nations
7 countries
Teams
9 contingents
Athletes1,404
Events251
OpeningMarch 18, 2018 (2018-03-18)
ClosingMarch 24, 2018 (2018-03-24)
Opened byLynn Napier-Buckley
Mayor of Fort Smith
Closed byJens Brinch
President of the AWGIC
Main venueNorthwestel AWG Recreation Center
Websiteawg2018.org

The Arctic Winter Games is the world's largest multisport and cultural event for young people of the Arctic. The Games is an international biennial celebration of circumpolar sports and culture held for a week, each time with a different nation or region as the host. AWG celebrates sports, social interaction and culture. The Games contributes to creating an awareness on cultural diversity, and develops athletes to participate in the competitions with the focus on fair play. The Games binds the Arctic countries together and includes traditional games such as Arctic sports and Dené games.

Around 1,400 athletes from nine teams participated in the games. Around 4,000 people in total took part in the Arctic Winter Games, including all competitors and participants in sports and cultural events.[1][2]

Organization

The 2018 Arctic Winter Games were set in Hay River and Fort Smith. Todd Shafer was chosen as general manager of the host society and Greg Rowe as president.[3]

Marketing

2018's mascot was a Snowy owl named "Kechi". Out of 80 different suggestions for the design of the mascot competition, the snowy owl won and was appointed by the steering committee.[4]

Participants

Nine contingents participated in the 2018 Arctic Winter Games. The number of athletes sent by each contingent is shown in parentheses in the list below.[2]

Venues

The 2018 games were held at various sports venues, schools and facilities in Fort Smith, Hay River and the K'atl'odeeche First Nation.[1]

Sports venues
Diamond Jenness Secondary School in Hay River
Princess Alexandra School in Hay River

The following venues hosted sports events during the games.[5]

Venue Events
Chief Lamalice Complex, K'atl'odeeche First Nation Dene games
Dene Village Road, K'atl'odeeche First Nation Dog mushing
Diamond Jenness Secondary School, Hay River Futsal
Fort Smith Centennial Arena, Fort Smith Figure skating, ice hockey, short track speed skating
Fort Smith Nordic Centre, Fort Smith Cross country skiing
Fort Smith Recreation Centre, Fort Smith Arctic Sports, basketball, curling
Harry Camsell School, Hay River Badminton
Hay River Ski Club, Hay River Biathlon, snowshoe biathlon, snowshoeing
Joseph B. Tyrell School, Fort Smith Table tennis
Northwestel AWG Recreation Center, Hay River Ice hockey, volleyball, opening ceremony, closing ceremony
Princess Alexandra School, Hay River Badminton
Riverside Park, Fort Smith Snowboarding
Rowe's Construction Head Office, Hay River Gymnastics, wrestling

Cultural venues

The following venues hosted cultural events during the games.[5]

Venue Events
Centennial Library, Hay River Workshops
Chief Sunrise Gymnasium, Hay River Marketplace
Northern Life Museum, Fort Smith Workshops
Uncle Gabe's Friendship Centre, Fort Smith Marketplace

Medal tally

  *   Host nation (Northwest Territories)

RankTeamGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Alaska513836125
2 Yamal513820109
3 Alberta North503548133
4 Yukon354146122
5 Northwest Territories*204339102
6 Greenland18252265
7 Nunavut15172355
8 Nunavik Quebec88521
9 Sápmi55616
Totals (9 entries)253250245748

The Games

Sports

251 events in 19 sport disciplines were scheduled in the 2018 Arctic Winter Games program. Curling, dog mushing, figure skating, gymnastics and short track speed skating all returned to the programme after their absence in 2016. 3 skiing sports were held, with biathlon, cross-country skiing and snowboarding. 2 snowshoe events were held, with snowshoe biathlon and snowshoeing. 2 racquet sports were held, with badminton and table tennis. 2 skating events were held, those being figure skating and short track speed skating. Team sports held were basketball, futsal, ice hockey, volleyball and curling. Traditional Inuit sports were also held, with Arctic sports, Dene games, dog mushing and wrestling, the latter also including events for traditional wrestling. Also held was gymnastics.[6][7]

Alpine skiing was removed from the sports programme due to a lack of facilities.[8]

Calendar
 OC Opening ceremony  ● Cultural events  ● Event competitions  1 Event finals  CC Closing ceremony
March 18
Sun		 19
Mon		 20
Tue		 21
Wed		 22
Thu		 23
Fri		 24
Sat		 Total
Ceremonies OC CC
Cultural events ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Arctic sports 8 8 6 4 9 35
Badminton ● ● ● ● ● 10 10
Basketball ● ● ● ● 2 2
Biathlon 4 4 4 2 14
Cross country skiing 6 6 6 6 24
Curling ● ● ● 2 2
Dene games 4 4 4 4 8 24
Dog mushing 2 2 2 6
Figure skating 4 8 1 13
Futsal ● ● ● ● ● 5 5
Gymnastics 1 5 6
Ice hockey ● ● ● ● 3 3
Short track speed skating ● 4 4 4 8 20
Snowboarding 4 4 4 4 4 20
Snowshoe biathlon 4 4 4 2 14
Snowshoeing 4 6 4 14
Table tennis ● 1 ● 11 12
Volleyball ● ● ● ● ● 2 2
Wrestling 1 12 12 25
Total events 0 45 36 30 47 64 29 251
March18
Sun		19
Mon		20
Tue		21
Wed		22
Thu		23
Fri		24
Sat		Total

Culture

The Arctic Winter Games celebrates culture and creates in the participants an awareness of cultural similarities and dissimilarities. Cultural exchange and social interaction are important parts of the Games. Each participating contingent contributes with performances in dance, song, music, plays or art. These cultural events reflect the traditional as well as the modern cultures of the Arctic. Several shows, exhibitions and workshops were available throughout the games.[9][10]

Hodgson Trophy

At each Arctic Winter Games, the AWG International Committee presents the Hodgson Trophy to the contingent whose athletes best exemplify the ideals of fair play and team spirit. Team members also receive a distinctive pin in recognition of their accomplishment. The Alaskan team and delegation won the Hodgson Trophy at the 2018 Arctic Winter Games.[11]

References
  1. "Arctic Winter Games 2018". Fortsmith.ca. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  2. "Find an athlete". Awg2018.gems.pro. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  3. "Hay River ready for Arctic Winter Games 2018". Nnsl.com. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  4. "2018 South Slave Arctic Winter Games introduces the snowy owl; 'Kechi', as the official mascot!". Ilrtoday.ca. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  5. "ULU News, 24 March 2018" (PDF). Arcticwintergames.org. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  6. "Sports". Archived from the original on 2018-04-25. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  7. "Results". Awg2018.gems.pro. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  8. "Alpine skiers missing out on Arctic Games". Whitehorsestar.com. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  9. "Opening of the 2018 South Slave Arctic Winter Games". Newswire.ca. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  10. "2018 Arctic Winter Games - Cultural Gala". Universe.com. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  11. "The Hodgson Trophy". Arcticwintergames.org. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
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