Two Nunavut speed skaters head for Canada Games

Speed skaters David Coulombe and Calvin Tilley of Iqaluit will represent Nunavut at the Canada Games, which get underway Feb. 11 in Halifax. (PHOTO COURTESY OF DANIEL COULOMBE)

Thousands of Canada’s best young athletes are set to gather Feb. 11 in Halifax for the opening ceremonies of the Canada Games.

And until Feb. 27 they’ll be competing in more than 20 sports— including speed skating, which will see two members of the Nunavut Speed Skating Association, David Coulombe and Calvin Tilley, representing Nunavut during the first week’s speed skating events.

Coulombe, 17, and Tilley, 18, have previously represented Nunavut in several speed skating meets and competitions, including the Arctic Winter Games, where they’ve broken records and picked up numerous medals, John Maurice, coach of the Iqaluit speed skating club, told Nunatsiaq News.

“They’re very fast,” he said of the two skaters.

Maurice expects they’ll be able to skate competitively against elite speed skaters from Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.

“It’s tough competition,” Maurice acknowledged, “We’ve done well, but I’m hoping we’ll do better.”

Many of the games competitions will be webcast and Coulombe and Tilley will be easy to pick out among the other speed skaters thanks to their black suits adorned with a Nunavut flag and syllabic characters.

The Canada Games, which first met in 1967, is now Canada’s largest multi-sport competition for young athletes.

Held every two years, alternating between summer and winter, the Canada Games are a key event for Canada’s young athletes.

Former games participants include many Olympic medal winners and athletes like Toller Cranston, Bob Gainey, Catriona LeMay Doan, Sidney Crosby and Alexandre Despatie.