The theme of the games isTime to shine“,”text”:”Time to shine”}}”>Time to shineor my moment of glory
. For the approximately 1,800 athletes, cultural representatives and coaches from the three Canadian territories, Nunavik, Alaska, Greenland, Finland, Norway and the host region, northern Alberta, this week s announcement rich in emotions.
« For all attendees […] this is their moment of glory. For the volunteers and the community, it’s time to show everyone why this community is so great. »
The Arctic Winter Games, created in 1970, still have the same mission: to give as many participants as possible the chance to take part in the games and to offer them the opportunity to compete with other athletes from the circumpolar world. .
Impress
For the CEO of the 2023 Arctic Winter Games, this sporting and cultural gathering is still relevant. The main goal of the games is to bring together athletes in isolated regions, which have fewer opportunities [de compétitions]to a high-quality sporting event
this Nicole Clow. For Arctic communities, this is the most significant event.
The organization wants to impress this year. The host region, Wood Buffalo, invested a lot of time and money to make these games a memorable event. The estimated cost of the games is over $13 million. Nearly 2,000 volunteers pitched in to organize these games, well beyond the organizers’ expectations.
Installations excellent quality
Cultural competitions and exhibitions take place at 13 different venues, the majority at Fort McMurray. Other communities in the region have been called upon to to expand [les compétitions] to the whole region
Explain Nicole Clow.
About 50 km south of the host city, the community ofAnzac hosts badminton competitions. Speed skating competitions take place at Fort McKayabout 60 km north of Fort McMurray.
It’s at the island park MacDonald, in the heart of Fort McMurray, the opening and closing ceremonies of the games take place. Traditional Dene games and arctic sports, flagship disciplines of the Arctic Winter Games, take place at the Suncor Community Center, also at the island park. MacDonald.
Nunavut’s Head of Mission, Mariele Depeuterhad the chance to visit the facilities a few months ago. The facilities are amazing. […] I think our participants will be satisfied with these games.
Long bus rides
Asked about the quality of the facilities, the Head of Mission of the Northwest Territories, Bill Othmeris unequivocal: They are excellent.
However, there is one caveat: People are going to spend a lot of time on the bus.
It’s at Fort McKay that a workers’ camp has been transformed into an athlete’s village, where everyone will have their own room.
Nicole Clow admits that the location of the village is not ideal, but the organizers have devised a schedule that takes into account travel time between the village and the sites. We think that the inconvenience of the long bus journeys will be compensated by the quality accommodation.
Another advantage of individual rooms is the possibility of isolating a sick participant and preventing the spread of viruses. It would be riskier if the village was more communal, made up of classrooms
Explain Nicole Clow.
Another facet of Fort McMurray
It is too early to assess the economic impact of the games on the region, according to Nicole Clow, but the organizing committee is convinced that the holding of this international event will give another perspective of Fort McMurray.
We see that the people who live here love their community
explains the director general of the games. I think visitors will see another side [de la ville]. The community side is not put forward as much as it should be, and that deserves to be known.