Nunavut and Nunavik athletes enjoy golden days in Nuuk

A jubilant Drew Bell of Arviat picks up his gold ulu in the open male triple jump March 9 at the Arctic Winter Games in Nuuk. He set a new record for the triple jump: at 11 metres and 49 centimetres. (PHOTO COURTESY OF ANGUTI JOHNSTON)

NUUK, GREENLAND — Nunavut athletes charged the standings during the second full day of competition March at the 2016 Arctic Winter Games in Nuuk, Greenland, netting 15 ulus, including three gold.

Team Nunavut now stands solidly in fifth place, ahead of Nunavik-Québec, Yamal, Sapmi and the Northwest Territories.

Arviat’s Drew Bell received his first gold ulu of the games March 10 for a record-setting March 9 performance in the open male triple jump.

Bell already holds silver ulus in kneel jump, one-hand reach and head pull.

He said the gold ulu validates the years of training dedicated to Arctic sports.

“These games provide incredible motivation for setting and achieving goals,” he told Nunatsiaq News shortly after the medal ceremony.

“It’s difficult to describe the experience, it feels like an intense explosive display of emotion and passion for the game.”

Bell set a new Arctic Winter Games record with his triple jump, measured at 11 metres and 49 cm.

“It’s not a place in my mind I can tap into at will,” he said of the record-setting jump.

“The best part about it is sharing these moments with like-minded friends from throughout the circumpolar world,” he said.

Junior athlete Dion Tanuyak, from Chesterfield Inlet, robbed Team Alaska of a podium sweep in Alaskan high kick thanks to a dominating gold-medal winning kick measured at six feet, 10 inches.

Tanuyak’s performance towered four inches over the silver-medal high kick from Alaskan Brandon Asicksik.

And in the junior male head pull, Rankin Inlet’s Dennis Panika defeated Yukon’s Payton Fobe in the final to earn Nunavut’s third gold of the day.

Nunavut’s wrestling team owned the podium March 9 in individual competitions, with seven athletes earning bronze medals for their weight categories.

And Arviat’s Shelby Angalik won silver in the 50 kilogram junior female division.

“It feels really good, I’m proud of myself for getting it,” she told Nunatsiaq News.

Angalik said she feels the pressure to perform as Team Nunavut’s designated flag-bearer for the 2016 games.

But a silver ulu — as well as a bronze in team competition — is a relief, she added.

Coach Daniel Young speculated Team Nunavut’s final medal haul in wrestling might double the seven medals won at the 2014 games in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Young credits the team’s improvement to a consistent program developed by the coaches.

“When coaches leave communities, oftentimes the program leaves with them,” he said about previous years.

“We’re in a cycle now where there’s some continuity.”

Young expects his team will continue winning medals in Inuit style wrestling, which is set to start March 10.

For her part, Angalik said she’s hoping for a gold medal.

Nunavut also landed a silver and bronze medal in table tennis doubles-play, thanks to the efforts of Daniel and Donovan Niptanatiak in junior males, as well as junior females bronze-medalists Mika Angohiatok and Kimberly Hokanak.

Team Nunavik-Québec’s Deseray Cumberbatch enjoyed a gold and silver day in women’s triple jump and the arm pull competitions.

Those victories came after a heartbreaking loss in the women’s Alaskan high kick, when Cumberbatch lost in the bronze medal runoff round, placing fourth overall.

And in Dene games, Nunavik juvenile females placed first place, edging out Team Alaska in the final.

As of March 9, Nunavik-Québec is in second-last place overall in medals earned, with seven medals, ahead of last place Team Yamal.

The 2016 Arctic Winter Games will continue in Nuuk until March 11.