What future model for international sports events? The case of the arctic winter games

Abstract

This article focuses on the Arctic Winter Games (AWG) that, since 1970, have been bringing together young people from across the circumpolar world. This sporting and cultural gathering prioritises sharing and exchange between young people and promotes indigenous cultural and sporting practices (Dene Games, Arctic sports). As such, the Games’ purpose is to contribute to building an Arctic community. Furthermore, via their educational objectives and social aims, they assert their role as an actor in the development of the territories. This article proposes an analysis of the 2016 Games organised in Nuuk (Greenland). By employing an ethnographic approach, combining work on the archives of the AWG and interviews with participants and Games officials, we show that beyond their sporting aspect, it would seem that these events can constitute levers of social, cultural and educational development for a territory from a sustainable and responsible perspective. They thus disseminate a model that questions, even destabilises, the contemporary sports movement, while suggesting perspectives for its evolution. By examining the public value of the AWG, we will discuss the paradigm on which international sports events are built today.

Keywords:

• Arctic winter games
• sports event
• regional games
• youth
• sports model
• dene games
• arctic sports

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Ian Legaree, Ruth Montgomery-Andersen, Caroline Allheily, Gitte Trondheim and Maalina Abelsen for facilitating our access to AWG 2016, and Carina Ren for the discussions we’ve had about the AWG.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Interview with a member of the technical management of the AWG, 1 April 2016.

2 Arctic sports competitor, Canada, 5 March 2016.

3 Futsal competitor, Canada, 8 March 2016.

4 For example: LCI news, 13 March 2016.

5 Interview with a member of the technical management of the AWG, 1 April 2016.

6 “Det sker tirsdag ved Arctic Winter Games”, Sermitsiaq, 8 March 2016. https://sermitsiaq.ag/node/185988

7 “Assit: Arctic Winter Games maanna ammarneqarpoq”, Sermitsiaq, 7 March 2016. https://sermitsiaq.ag/kl/assit-arctic-winter-games-maanna-ammarneqarpoq.

8 Interview with Maliina Abelsen, General Manager AWG 2016, 31 March 2016.

9 It should be noted that the project is not unrelated to the region’s industrial mining and tourism development prospects either.

10 Snowshoeing competitor, Greenland, 7 March 2016.

11 Interview with a member of the technical management of the AWG, 1 April 2016.