Team NT continued an impressive 2023 Arctic Winter Games on Tuesday with gold ulus in speed skating, archery, figure skating, snowboarding and Arctic Sports.
Veronica McDonald continued the McDonald family’s decades-long Arctic Sports dominance with kneel jump gold. She successfully defended a title she also won on home soil in 2018.
BehchokÇ«Ì€ 15-year-old Josh Wedzin and Yellowknife 12-year-old Em Gilmour teamed up to win archery’s mixed team barebow title.
Wedzin said he got into archery after seeing it on TV and in movies, receiving a bow for Christmas in 2021. Asked if competing in archery is anything like what he saw on TV, he said: “Nowhere near … not nearly as showy.”
Wedzin thinks he still has plenty of room to improve in the individual events. Gilmour said she felt “pretty good” on Tuesday despite initial nerves.
“Sometimes nerves make me better and sometimes it’s too much. I usually pull myself together pretty quickly,” she said.
On the first day of figure skating events, Yellowknife 15-year-old Lily Brennan produced a title-winning short program in the U19 level three category.
“Getting on the ice felt good,” Brennan said. “I feel like it’s every figure skater’s dream to go to the Olympics but I’m just hoping to do my best and do whatever I can in the sport.”
Storm Cabell-White won her second snowboard title in two days, this time in slopestyle, and there were two more gold ulus in short-track speed skating: Sage Acorn won the U19 male 500m and Morgan Nelson won the U16 female 400m ahead of sister Kara in second.
(Photo provided by Team NT)
Acorn’s time of 45.02 seconds beats a record set by Michael Gilday (45.37) in 2004, NWT speed skating coaches said. Gilday went on to become a speed skating Olympian for Team Canada.
“It’s a big milestone for any athlete to have a record to their name. To me, it’s proof of how much I have worked and trained over the years,” Acorn said.
“I really put a lot into this year getting ready for the games, I’m just ecstatic.”
Coach Madison Pilling said: “Another great day of personal bests, pushing through mental challenges when results didn’t go their way, and great results. We are very happy for the entire team and so proud of each of them for their personal achievements.”
Lastly, Team NT continues to produce amazing results in team sports, as several teams remain unbeaten. The female curlers will enter their play-offs on Wednesday in first place, while the juvenile female futsal team has scored 25 goals in two games.
The male U16 hockey team beat Alaska 9-2 with Nate Harris, who just turned 12, in net. Asked if the age gap was scary, Harris said: “Not really. I’ve got great padding.”
“I was nervous at the start, it was my first game. It’s probably something that I’ll never forget,” he added.
Flagbearer Kyra McDonald is recovering after needing treatment for a shoulder injury following the female hockey team’s opening game. She sat out Tuesday’s action.
Here is Tueday’s medal update:
GOLD: 13
Sage Acorn speed skating U19 male 500m
Lily Brennan figure skating U19 short program level 3
Storm Cabell-White snowboarding U15 female slopestyle
Em Gilmour & Josh Wedzin archery mixed team barebow
Veronica McDonald Arctic Sports open kneel jump
Morgan Nelson speed skating U16 female 400m
SILVER: 10
Niobe Clinton figure skating U19 short program level 1
Peyton Koe figure skating U19 short program level 2
Kara Nelson speed skating U16 female 400m
Erika Pollard speed skating U19 female 500m
BRONZE: 9
Lochlan Dunn speed skating U19 male 500m
Seiya McEachern speed skating U16 male 400m
Rebecca Messier speed skating U19 female 500m
Maisey Murray biathlon snowshoe U16 female 3km
Brooke Vallis figure skating U19 short program level 2
Team results on Tuesday
BASKETBALL
Female 57-74 Alberta North
Male 68-86 Alberta North
CURLING
Female 14-2 Nunavut
Male 8-2 Nunavut
FUTSAL
Junior female 0-1 Alaska
Junior male 2-1 Alaska, 13-2 Nunavut
Juvenile female 13-0 Nunavut (team has now scored 25 goals in two games…)
Juvenile male 4-1 Alaka
HOCKEY
U19 Female 0-4 Alberta North, 1-0 Yukon
U18 Male 6-5 Alberta North (having been 0-2 behind)
U16 Male 9-2 Alaska
VOLLEYBALL
Female 3-1 Nunavut, 3-1 Greenland
Male 2-0 Alaska, 1-2 Nunavut
