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Hay River, Fort Smith to host 2018 Arctic Winter Games

The Northwest Territories’ South Slave Region has been named host of the 2018 Arctic Winter Games.

By Whitehorse Star on March 19, 2015

The Northwest Territories’ South Slave Region has been named host of the 2018 Arctic Winter Games.

The Games’ International Committee president Jens Brinch made the announcement today.

“On behalf of the Arctic Winter Games International Committee, I am excited to announce that the South Slave Region of the Northwest Territories will host the Arctic Winter Games in March 2018,” Brinch said in a press release.

“In a little less than three years, nearly 2,000 athletes, coaches and cultural delegates from around the circumpolar world will gather in the South Slave and transform it into an international celebration of sport, culture and community spirit.”

The towns of Hay River and Fort Smith teamed up to put together an excellent bid, said John Rodda, vice-president and chair of the bid selection committee.

“We were very pleased with the enthusiasm, organization and excellent planning that went into developing and presenting the South Slave bid to host the Games,” he said.

The Town of Inuvik and the Beaufort Delta Region also submitted a bid to host the 2018 Games, but were denied in favour of the South Slave Region.

“It was an extremely difficult choice,” said Rodda. “Inuvik and the Beaufort Delta were strong contenders. Their dedicated team are to be commended for the excellent work they put into the bid.”

An official signing ceremony will be announced in the near future.

Held every two years, the Arctic Winter Games is an international celebration of sport and culture that includes participants from Alaska; Greenland; Yamal, Russia; the Sami of northern Scandinavia; and the Canadian jurisdictions of Yukon, Northern Alberta, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Nunavik, Quebec.

The event features unique northern events such as dog mushing, Arctic sports and Dene Games in addition to the more familiar winter sports of hockey, cross-country skiing and speedskating.

The 2016 Games are being be hosted in Nuuk, Greenland, with Whitehorse planning to host an unaffiliated Arctic X Games simultaneously featuring the six sports cut from the Greenland event.

At the 2014 Games in Fairbanks, Alaska, the Yukon earned 85 medals, good for fifth overall out of nine jurisdictions.

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