The Arctic Winter Games are off to a good start for Team NT.
In the first full day of events, the NWT athletes were able to score four gold, seven silver, and four bronze ulus.
In the Dene Games, 32-year-old Shawna McLeod was able to win gold in Stick Pull in the open women’s category, which is the first time this age category has been present at the games. This was Shawna’s first time playing in the games in nearly two decades, after she previously competed in 2006. She stated that she felt overwhelmed but proud to be competing again, and to have won the first ever open female gold medal.
The silver ulus for Stick Pull went to Robin Catholique and Canan Olvera.
Over in Speed Skating, Lochlan Dunn made a 1,000 metre dash to take the victory in the under-19 age bracket. Dunn was attempting to break the previous speed skating records set by Sage Acorn in last year’s games with the 500 metre and 777 metre times.
(Photo provided by Team NT)
In the under-15 Speed Skating bracket, Seiya McEachern took the gold, and stated that he felt like his hard work was paying off. He said that he doesn’t need to win every gold, but instead, he will focus on improving his skating ability and building good sportsmanship.
In the Snowshoe Biathlon, Carys Lyall claimed the gold, while teammate Sophia Tousenard placed in second. After the race, Lyall commented that their interest in the Snowshoe event was a recent one, having only learned about it two years earlier and becoming incredibly excited for it.
Other Team NT medals include Maisey Murray taking the Snowshoe Biathlon silver in the U18 category, and Elliot Fast taking snowshoeing bronze. Jaxin Coombs won the bronze medal in Ski Biathlon at the U15 level.
In Arctic Sports, James Williams won the silver medal in the triple jump, and Carolynn Fegusson and Grayson Marchori each took bronze ulus in Snowboarding.
