The 2020 Arctic Winter Games was a scheduled

winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultur ...

multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of interna ...

which was to take place in

Whitehorse Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas ...

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

, between 15 and 21 March 2020. On 7 March 2020, the games were cancelled due to the international coronavirus pandemic. The

Arctic Winter Games The Arctic Winter Games is a biennial multi-sport and indigenous cultural event involving circumpolar peoples residing in communities or countries bordering the Arctic Ocean. Background The Arctic Winter Games were founded in 1969 under the lea ...

is the world's largest multisport and cultural event for young people of the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...

. The Games is an international biennial celebration of circumpolar sports and culture held weekly, each time with a different nation or region as the host. AWG celebrates sports, social interaction and culture. The Games contribute to creating awareness of cultural diversity and develop athletes to participate in competitions with a focus on

fair play Fair play or Fairplay usually refers to sportsmanship. Fair play or Fairplay may also refer to: Media * ''Fair Play'' (1925 film), an American silent film * ''Fair Play'', a 1972 TV movie starring Paul Ford * ''Fair Play'' (2014 film), a Czech ...

. The Games bind the Arctic countries together and include traditional games such as Arctic sports and Dené games.

Organization

On 7 March 2020 it was announced that the 2020 Arctic Winter Games would be cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. The announcement was made through a public joint statement from the Whitehorse 2020 Arctic Winter Games Host Society, the government of Yukon, city of Whitehorse and Chief Medical Officer of Health.

Participants

Nine contingents would have participated in the 2020 Arctic Winter Games. *

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

, United States *

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

Northern Alberta Northern Alberta is a geographic region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. An informally defined cultural region, the boundaries of Northern Alberta are not fixed. Under some schemes, the region encompasses everything north of the cen ...

, Canada * Northwest Territories, Canada * Nunavik,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada * Nunavut, Canada * Sami flag

Sámi people The Sámi ( ; also spelled Sami or Saami) are a Finno-Ugric-speaking people inhabiting the region of Sápmi (formerly known as Lapland), which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Murmansk Oblast, Ru ...

Flag of Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District

Yamalo-Nenets The Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (YaNAO; russian: Яма́ло-Не́нецкий автоно́мный о́круг (ЯНАО), ; yrk, Ямалы-Ненёцие автономной ӈокрук, ) or Yamalia (russian: Ямалия) is a fed ...

, Russia *

, Canada (host)

The Games

Sports

21 sport disciplines were scheduled in the 2020 Arctic Winter Games program. Archery would have made its return to the games, having appeared only once before in 1974. Alpine skiing would have returned after not appearing in the 2018 Arctic Winter Games. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

2020 Arctic Winter Games Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arctic Winter Games 2020 Arctic Winter Games, 2020 2020 in Canadian sports 2020 in Yukon

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

Multi-sport events in Canada International sports competitions hosted by Canada

Sport in Whitehorse Multi-sport events cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic