Arctic Winter Games

The Arctic Winter Games is a biennial multi-sport and indigenous cultural event involving communities from the Arctic Sea region.

Arctic Winter Games
Arctic Winter Games Logo
First event1970 in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
Occur every2 years
Last event2018 Arctic Winter Games held in Hay River/Fort Smith
PurposeSports for the Arctic
PresidentGerry Thick
WebsiteArcticWinterGames.org
An athlete performing a two-foot high kick at the 2008 Arctic Winter Games

Background

The Arctic Winter Games were founded in 1969 under the leadership of Governor Walter J. Hickel of Alaska, Stuart M. Hodgson, Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, and Yukon Commissioner James Smith. The idea to "provide a forum where athletes from the circumpolar North could compete on their own terms, on their own turf" came from Cal Miller, an advisor with the Yukon team at the 1967 Canada Winter Games.

In 1970 in Yellowknife, Canada, 500 athletes, trainers and officials came together for the first Arctic Winter Games. The participants came from the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Alaska. Since then, the Games have been held on fifteen occasions in different places and with ever more participants from more and more places within the Arctic region. The games in 2002 were the first jointly hosted Arctic Winter Games, by Nuuk, Greenland and Iqaluit, Nunavut.

Sports disciplines

Games include:[1]

Participants

A total of nine contingents participated in the Arctic Winter Games. The same group of teams also made up the participants of the previous games.[2]

Host cities

Host cities have been in Canada, the United States, and Greenland.[3]

YearHost CityCountry
1970YellowknifeCanada
1972Whitehorse
1974AnchorageUnited States
1976ScheffervilleCanada
1978Hay River/Pine Point
1980Whitehorse
1982FairbanksUnited States
1984YellowknifeCanada
1986Whitehorse
1988FairbanksUnited States
1990YellowknifeCanada
1992Whitehorse
1994Slave Lake
1996Chugiak/Eagle RiverUnited States
1998YellowknifeCanada
2000Whitehorse
2002NuukGreenland
IqaluitCanada
2004Wood Buffalo
2006Kenai Peninsula BoroughUnited States
2008YellowknifeCanada
2010Grande Prairie
2012Whitehorse
2014FairbanksUnited States
2016NuukGreenland
2018Hay River/Fort SmithCanada
2020Whitehorse (cancelled)
2022Wood Buffalo[4]
2024TBDUnited States
2026TBDRussia

Hodgson Trophy

The Hodgson trophy for fair play and team spirit is awarded at the end of every games. The trophy is named for Stuart Milton Hodgson, former Commissioner of the Northwest Territories.[5]

The past winners of the trophy are:[5]

WinnerYear
Alaska1978
Yukon1980–1988
Alaska1990
Northwest Territories1992
Greenland1994
Northwest Territories1996
Yukon1998
Nunavut2000
Greenland2002
Nunavut2004
Alaska2006
Nunavut2008
Alaska2010
Nunavut2012
Greenland2014
Alaska2016–2018

Arctic Winter Games International Committee

  • Gerry Thick, President
  • Wendell Shiffler, Vice President
  • Lloyd Bentz, Secretary
  • Ian Legaree Technical Director
  • Jens Brinch
  • Sharon Clarkson
  • Marilyn Neily
  • John Rodda
  • Don Sian
  • Karen Thomson

Arctic Winter Games alumni

  • The Governor General of Canada, Michaëlle Jean, presented Aisa Pirti, a 19-year-old Inuk from Akulivik, Nunavik, with the National Aboriginal Role Model Award during a ceremony at Rideau Hall. Aisa has received 30 medals and five trophies for Inuit games in regional and circumpolar competitions, such as the Arctic Winter Games and the Eastern Arctic Summer Games.

See also

References

  1. "2000 Arctic Winter Games Results", ArcticWinterGames.org.
  2. Arctic Winter Games International Committee (2006). "Medal standings". Archived from the original on 2 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-01.
  3. Past Games
  4. 2022 Arctic Winter Games
  5. "The Hodgson Trophy", ArcticWinterGames.org.
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