Arctic Winter Games to return in 2028 after all, this time in Alaska
Officials said earlier that the next games wouldn’t happen until 2029
Just months after organizers of the Arctic Winter Games decided to shift to a three-year cycle for the event, they’ve scrapped that plan to say the games will be now back in 2028, in Fairbanks, Alaska.
A news release from the Arctic Winter Games International Committee on Tuesday says Fairbanks has been formally named as the host of the next event.
John Rodda, president of the committee, cited “an extraordinary proposal from the Fairbanks community at a pivotal moment for the Arctic Winter Games movement.”
“Their initiative, collaboration and determination made it possible to restore the games to their traditional two-year cycle,” he said, in a written statement.
In December, the committee approved a move to a three -year cycle, meaning that after the 2026 games held in Whitehorse last winter, they wouldn’t have been held again until 2029.
Rodda said at the time that the decision was about “supporting the long-term sustainability of the games and maintaining the quality and integrity of it.”
Tuesday’s news release says returning to a two-year cycle “provides greater certainty” for future athletes, coaches and organizers, “while strengthening long-term planning across the Arctic Winter Games movement.”
The committee says community leaders in Fairbanks submitted a proposal this past spring, to host the 2028 event. Games officials then spent four months reviewing it before deciding to formally award the event to the Fairbanks host society.
The Arctic Winter Games typically sees more than 2,000 youth participants from northern Canada, Alaska, Greenland, and other circumpolar regions compete in a number of sports from skiing to Dene Games.
The games’ international committee calls Fairbanks one of the event’s “most experienced host communities,” having welcomed the games before in 1982, 1988 and 2014.
Moira Lassen, the committee’s executive director, called this week’s announcement “an exciting new chapter” for the event.
“We look forward to working with the Fairbanks 2028 Host Society, our participating contingents, sport partners, and volunteers to deliver an exceptional Games experience for northern youth across the circumpolar North,” she said in a written statement.
Earlier, the N.W.T. had been slated to host the 2028 games but withdrew in 2024 with Minister Vince McKay citing “a range of reasons” for why it wasn’t feasible. He said at the time that the territory would “work to improve its capacity to host future events.”
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Snowshoeing removed from Team N.T. for 2026 AWG, other sports reduced, CBC News
Finland: Ice fishing World Championships latest in Finnish series of odd sports events, Yle News
United States: Veteran musher Brent Sass wins Yukon Quest 300, CBC News
