2023 Arctic Winter Games

The 2023 Arctic Winter Games was a winter multi-sport event which took place in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Northern Alberta from 29 January to 4 February 2023. The Games were originally scheduled to take place in March 2022, but was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Arctic Winter Games is the world's largest multisport and cultural event for young people of the Arctic. The Games is an international biennial celebration of circumpolar sports and culture held for a week, each time with a different nation or region as the host. AWG celebrates sports, social interaction and culture. The Games contributes to creating an awareness on cultural diversity, and develops athletes to participate in the competitions with the focus on fair play. The games bind the Arctic countries together and include traditional games such as Arctic sports and Dené games.

Organization

The 2023 Games took place in Wood Buffalo in Northern Alberta, Canada. Nicole Clow was the general manager of the games.

Marketing

The mascot of the 2023 games is a lynx named Nitotem. The name translates to "my friend" in the Cree language. The mascot was designed by Sadie Antoine from Fort McMurray, after she won a design contest.

Participants

Eight contingents are set to participate in the 2023 Arctic Winter Games.

Athletes from the Russian region of Yamalo-Nenets did not participate in the 2023 Arctic Winter Games due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Venues

The 2023 were held at various sports venues, schools and facilities in Fort McMurray, Anzac and Fort McKay.

Sports venues

The following venues hosted events during the 2023 Arctic Winter Games.

Venue	Events
Anzac Recreation Centre, Anzac	Badminton, table tennis
Birchwood Trails, Fort McMurray	Cross country skiing, snowshoeing
Centrefire Place, Fort McMurray	Ice hockey
Fort McKay Arena, Fort McKay	Short track speed skating
Frank Lacroix Arena, Fort McMurray	Figure skating
Nexen Energy Fieldhouse, Fort McMurray	Arctic sports
Shell Place, MacDonald Island Park, Fort McMurray	Archery
Suncor Community Leisure Centre, Fort McMurray	Curling, Dene games, ice hockey
Syncrude Sport & Wellness Centre, Fort McMurray	Basketball, futsal, volleyball
Vista Ridge All Seasons Park, Fort McMurray	Alpine skiing, snowboarding
TBD	Biathlon, gymnastics, snowshoe biathlon, wrestling

The Games

Sports

Twenty sports were held at the 2023 Arctic Winter Games. Archery made its debut in the modern games, having appeared only once before in the 1974 Arctic Winter Games. Alpine skiing returned to the games after not appearing in 2018. Dog mushing was removed from the program and did not appear. Four skiing sports were held, with alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing and snowboarding. Two snowshoe events were held, with snowshoe biathlon and snowshoeing. Two racquet sports were held, with badminton and table tennis. Two skating events were held, with figure skating and short track speed skating. Team sports that were held were basketball, futsal, ice hockey, volleyball and curling. Traditional Inuit sports were also held, with Arctic sports, Dene games, and wrestling, the latter also including events for traditional wrestling. Also scheduled were gymnastics and archery.
*

Culture

The Arctic Winter Games celebrates culture and creates in the participants an awareness of cultural similarities and dissimilarities. Cultural exchange and social interaction are important parts of the Games. Each participating contingent contributes with performances in dance, song, music, plays or art. These cultural events reflect the traditional as well as the modern cultures of the Arctic.

Hodgson Trophy

At each Arctic Winter Games, the AWG International Committee presents the Hodgson Trophy to the contingent whose athletes best exemplify the ideals of fair play and team spirit. Team members also receive a distinctive pin in recognition of their accomplishment.

Medallists

Arctic sports

;2005
;Open

Dene games

;Boys
;Girls

Wrestling

;Individual
;Inuit wrestling
;Team