2023 Arctic Winter Games

The 2023 Arctic Winter Games is a winter multi-sport event which will take place in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Northern Alberta from 29 January to 4 February 2023. The games were originally scheduled to take place in March 2022, but was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]

2023 Arctic Winter Games Wood Buffalo
Host cityFort McMurray
Anzac
Fort McKay
CountryCanada
Northern Alberta
Nations participating
6 countries
Teams participating
8 contingents
Opening ceremonyJanuary 29, 2023 (2023-01-29)
Closing ceremonyFebruary 4, 2023 (2023-02-04)
Websiteawg2023.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 bind the Arctic countries together and include traditional games such as Arctic sports and Dené games.[2]

Organization

The 2023 games are set to take place in Wood Buffalo in Northern Alberta, Canada. Nicole Clow is the general manager of the games.[3]

Marketing

The mascot of the 2023 games is a lynx named Nitotem. The name translates to "my friend" in the Cree language. The mascot was designed by Sadie Antoine from Fort McMurray, after she won a design contest.[4]

Participants

Eight contingents are set to participate in the 2023 Arctic Winter Games.[5]

Athletes from the Russian region of Yamal will not be participating in the 2023 Arctic Winter Games[6]

Venues

The 2023 are to be held at various sports venues, schools and facilities in Fort McMurray, Anzac and Fort McKay.

Sports venues
MacDonald Island Park in Fort McMurray

The following venues are set to host events during the 2023 Arctic Winter Games.[7]

Venue Events
Anzac Recreation Centre, Anzac Badminton, table tennis
Birchwood Trails, Fort McMurray Cross country skiing, snowshoeing
Centrefire Place, Fort McMurray Ice hockey
Fort McKay Arena, Fort McKay Short track speed skating
Frank Lacroix Arena, Fort McMurray Figure skating
Nexen Energy Fieldhouse, Fort McMurray Arctic sports
Shell Place, MacDonald Island Park, Fort McMurray Archery
Suncor Community Leisure Centre, Fort McMurray Curling, Dene games, ice hockey
Syncrude Sport & Wellness Centre, Fort McMurray Basketball, futsal, volleyball
Vista Ridge All Seasons Park, Fort McMurray Alpine skiing, snowboarding
TBD Biathlon, gymnastics, snowshoe biathlon, wrestling

The Games

Sports

20 sports are scheduled to be held at the 2023 Arctic Winter Games. Archery will make its debut in the modern games, having appeared only once before in the 1974 Arctic Winter Games. Alpine skiing will return to the games after not appearing in 2018. Dog mushing has been removed from the program and will not appear. 4 skiing sports are to be held, with alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing and snowboarding. 2 snowshoe events are to be held, with snowshoe biathlon and snowshoeing. 2 racquet sports are to be held, with badminton and table tennis. 2 skating events are to be held, with figure skating and short track speed skating. Team sports to be held are basketball, futsal, ice hockey, volleyball and curling. Traditional Inuit sports are also held, with Arctic sports, Dene games, and wrestling, the latter also including events for traditional wrestling. Also scheduled are gymnastics and archery.[7]

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.[8]

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.[9]

References
  1. "New Dates Set for 2023 Arctic Winter Games". Highnorthnews.com. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  2. "About the Arctic Winter Games". Arcticwintergames.org. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  3. "Host Society". Awg2023.org. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  4. "Mascot". Awg2023.org. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  5. "Teams". Awg2023.org. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  6. "Athletes from Russia's Yamal region suspended from next year's Arctic Winter Games in RMWB".
  7. "Sports". Awg2023.org. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  8. "Cultural medallion and pin". Awg2023.org. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  9. "The Hodgson Trophy". Arcticwintergames.org. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
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