Arctic Winter Games organizers work to keep a level playing field

As the Arctic Winter Games have grown over the years, the level of competition has improved, prompting concerns from organizers who want to maintain the Games' original aim of a level playing field for Northern athletes.

"It's very important for us that we will not be an elite organization," said Jens Brinch, president of the Arctic Winter Games International Committee. 

"But in a way we are elite for those that are not at a high level, so I think we are struggling all the time with that."

Brinch gave the example of the Yamal contingent from Russia, which has grown dominant in skiing over the years.

"We told them not to send their very best [skiers] because the best competition is the equal competition," he said.

"But that is always a challenge with sport because sport very easily gets oriented about elite. I see this more as a kind of mass participation." 

Brinch said local sports organizations also struggle with ensuring small and rural Arctic communities are represented.

Biathlon 'a natural fit'

That can depend on the sport. Zachary Hall, Alaska's biathlon coach, said while his squad is mostly made up of athletes from Anchorage, the state's largest city, smaller communities are well represented: Fairbanks, Nome and Galena — a small, off-road community in central Alaska with a population of under 500 — each sent two athletes to the games.

Hall said biathlon appeals to kids in rural communities.

"What we find in Alaska is that the skiing is a great means of exploring your area and many of them still live a subsistence lifestyle, so when you marry the two it's just a natural fit," he said.

Hall said the parity at the AWG helps athletes from Alaska's smaller town. 

"One of the things a lot of us coaches are working towards across the state is allowing, helping them come in to do camps. And also as coaches, we take some of the athletes out so that we have this cultural exchange," he said.

"Arctic Winter Games is really exciting because it provides a capstone experience in a sense where a lot of them get to come together and compete ideally at an even playing field."

'It's a cultural thing'

Carolyn Sam, from Galena, is one of those athletes. She competed in snowshoeing at the Whitehorse games in 2012 and qualified for biathlon this time around, beating out competition from other small schools in Alaska's western interior.

"There are a lot of kids and there's quite a few competitors there, top skiers and shooters way better than me, but I qualified. I was good enough," she said.

Whether that qualifies as elite or not, snowshoeing and shooting are just part of growing up in a small Alaska town, Sam said.

"Snowshoe is a family thing. It's a cultural thing, too. It's a big part of my community back home."