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Sports archive for September 18, 2012

Curling, skating iced for 2016 Arctic Winter Games

The Arctic Winter Games International Committee has announced the sports that will be part of the 2016 Arctic Winter Games in Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq in the City of Nuuk, Greenland, but curling and skating won’t be among the list of sports.

By Whitehorse Star on September 18, 2012 at 2:14 pm

The Arctic Winter Games International Committee has announced the sports that will be part of the 2016 Arctic Winter Games in Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq in the City of Nuuk, Greenland, but curling and skating won’t be among the list of sports.

“This is the first Games that Greenland is totally responsible for hosting, and we are pleased to announce that 15 sports will be part of the program in 2016,” committee president Gerry Thick said last Friday.

“This includes ice hockey, which will be held in Iqaluit, Nunavut, under a special contracting arrangement made by the host society”.

The Arctic Winter Games are structured to allow each of the permanent members an opportunity to host the Games once every 12 years.

Given the unique circumstances in Greenland and the lack of an ice arena in Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq, the committee has agreed to a program that will not include curling, speed skating nor figure skating in 2016.

The committee anticipates these sports will return to the Games program in 2018.

Fairbanks will host the next Arctic Winter Games in March 2014.

The committee will meet with the Fairbanks Host Society in mid-October as part of its normal pre-Games review process.

CommentsAdd a comment

Brian Hemsley

Sep 18, 2012 at 4:17 pm

so unfortunate for the young athletes that could be going in 2016, as many will be too old by 2018.  An adult governing body should be able to figure out a way, to not penalize this group of young people

crazy

Sep 19, 2012 at 2:03 pm

If a country/community can’t host the games properly, they should not be on the list. This is ridiculous.

Bob Loblaw

Sep 19, 2012 at 3:48 pm

This is completely unacceptable. 
You’d think that being a successful bidder for the AWG would be contingent on actually having the facilities to host the event.
To me there are only two options here:
*Nuuk gets the facilities in place for 2016
or
*The games are hosted in a different location.
If Nuuk has no rink, imagine what kind of residence we might be sending our kids to.
Going to Greenland would be a once in a lifetime experience but Nuuk has to come to terms with the idea of hosting the games. The media exposure and the cash influx from athletes all come at a price.

Sally Wolfe

Sep 19, 2012 at 6:46 pm

Absolute disgrace on the part of the organizing committee. Many athletes will be too old by 2018, and this is exclusion in it’s worst form—at the expense of amateur athletes by adults. I understand Greenland should be allowed to host, but then a second host should be added to allow all sports and athletes to compete. Unacceptable all the way…

Stan Rogers

Sep 19, 2012 at 7:00 pm

I have a solution.

The other athletes and governing bodies boycott the games until the missing venues are reinstated.

There has to be a solution.

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