The Philippine Online Chronicles

Now that the flame on the cauldron was extinguished at the 2010 Grande Prairie Arctic Winter Games, it is time to look back on the performances of the nine participating contingents.

Team Alaska exceeded all expectations when they smashed through the marks they set in the 2008 Yellowknife Arctic Winter Games as well as the one they hosted in 2006. The sole American contigent went away with the most number of gold, silver, bronze and total medals for the entire competition. Alaska finished with 87 gold medals along with 85 silvers and 79 bronzes for a whopping total of 251 medals.

Alaska won thirteen gold medals in the discipline of Arctic sports – a group of games that are indigenous to the Arctic region. Manuel Tumulak won two golds for Team Alaska by topping the Alaskan High Kick (open category) and the head pull (open category). Wrestling was also a strong point for the Alaskans. Team Alaska won 19 of the 26 medals up for grabs in the combined wrestling competitions. The Arctic Winter Games features Inuit wrestling in the programme – it as type of wrestling indigenous to the North American side of the Arctic. There were eight wrestlers that won two gold medals each because they won the regular wrestling as well as the Inuit category. The parade of double gold medallists include Marie Caballa, Jenae Shannon, Rachael Shannon, Cole Miller, Scott Anthony Hansen, Kaden Chace Spurgeon, Zenon Martushev, Mitchell Cody Watt and Tyler Thain. The contingent also won nine golds in biathlon. Ray Wonders won two golds in the biathlon ski events to be yet another athlete in the Alaska contingent with two golds or more. Annika Noelle Flynn and Amy Mabel Davis also won two golds in their alpine skiing events. Celina Brown won four golds in women’s gymnastics to become the contingent’s most bemedalled athlete for the 2010 Arctic Winter Games.

Alaska was dominant as ever. Their gold medal total is more than twice the total of the second place nation in the overall medal tally.

Claiming the second spot was the host contingent Alberta North. After finishing fourth in the 2008 Yellowknife Arctic Winter Games, the team bolstered their gold total by 14 and their total medals won by almost 50. They finished the 2010 Games with 43 golds, 56 silvers and 46 bronze for a total of 145 medals. The hosts stamped their class in the events in the slopes as they won 24 gold medals in alpine skiing, snowboarding and freestyle skiing. Brooke Voight won four gold medals in snowboarding. Alberta North also won four gold medals in gymnastics all courtesy of Megan Croke. The hosts also won the two gold medals at stake in the sport of basketball.

Placing third in the overall standings was Yukon who also improved on their rank and medal haul from the last Arctic Winter Games. From fifth in 2008, Yukon leapfrogged two spots to be the third team in terms of gold medals this Arctic Winter Games. Yukon had 37 golds, 37 silvers and 27 bronzes to pass the century mark at 101. This was an improvement of 20 medals from their previous haul. Snowshoeing was Yukon’s go-to-sport as they picked up six golds. Kieran Halliday had four golds to show for his 2010 Arctic Winter Games exploits. Bryn Hoffman had three golds from figure skating. Siblings Brian and Rachel Kinvig combine for four gold medals in dog mushing.

Yamal-Nenets sent a much smaller delegation this time around and the results reflected it. From being second in the medal tally back in 2008, Yamal-Nenets fell to fourth. The contingent had a decent total of 35 golds, 21 silver and 8 bronzes. The team dominated the biathlon events done on skis winning ten gold medals in the sport. Ivan Mekhnonikov had four gold medals while Evgeniya Smirnova had three golds. The team also won eight gold medals in the sport of cross country skiing. Kristiana Ilchenko was sensation as she finished first in three different events. Evgeniya Shilayaeva won all of Yamal-Nenets three golds in snowshoeing. Yamal-Nenets also virtually swept the table tennis finals matches having won half of the gold medals at stake.

Placing fifth was Northwest Territories that had the third highest number of medals but they only had 31 gold medals to their credit. They also had 28 silvers and 48 bronzes. The team won almost half of their gold medals in speed skating. Madison Pilling had three golds as an individual and was also instrumental in the wins they had as a team. The Norris siblings Alicia and Brandon combined forces to win six gold medals in the biathlon snowshoe events.

Greenland improved their medal total slightly by grabbing 18 golds, 16 silvers and 15 bronzes. They dominated the badminton competition by winning seven gold medals in the sport.

Nunavik Quebec had 12 golds, 10 silvers and 13 bronzes. More than half (7) of their gold medals came from disciplines in the Arctic sports events. They also won four golds in dene games.

Nunavut finished with a total of 49 medals. They won 9 golds, 16 silvers and 24 bronzes. Just like Nunavik, the golds that Nunavik won were mostly from Arctic sports and dene games.

Sapmi rounded out the medal tally of nine contingents with a total of ten medals. They won three gold medals in cross country skiing.

The Arctic Winter Games is not just about athletic contests. There are also various cultural presentations that were meant to celebrate the diversity of the peoples and traditions of the territories above the 55^th parallel. The Games were originally meant to foster camaraderie and a strong bond between the citizens of the territories in the region and to a certain extent, the glory in the playing field is almost secondary to the greater goal of unity and togetherness. The host of the 2012 Arctic Winter Games have yet to be named but for sure, the great youth of the Arctic would strive for sports glory and promote friendships once more in a couple of years’ time.

Relive the Arctic Winter Games

Intro | Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Finale

Photo by Xander.