Day 4 of Arctic Winter Games: medals and eliminations

More than halfway through the Arctic Winter Games, many Nunavut and Nunavik athletes have a clearer picture of their path forward — whether they are moving on to medal contentions or concluding their performances.

After losing a game against Alberta on Sunday, the Nunavut under-19 female hockey team recovered with a three-game winning streak against Alaska, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories.

“I think we are going to go all the way to gold,” said Kylie Ipeelie-Dunphy after a 7-3 win against the Northwest Territories on Wednesday.

Ipeelie-Dunphy has the most individual points among all female players at the Games — five goals and six assists.

“I can’t even express how I feel,” she said about the experience.

In curling, both of Team Nunavut’s rinks have been eliminated from further action.

“We still want to give a shout-out to the girls’ team who won two games,” said 16-year-old Noah Smith from the male curling team Wednesday.

In the meantime, more than 500 people gathered Wednesday at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre to buy some local crafts, say hello to Michael Jay the Fox, the 2026 Games’ official mascot, and watch the Dene Games.

Both Nunavut and Nunavik teams have won medals in these competitions.

On Monday, Nunavik athletes won three medals in stick pull: Aiva-Grace Mesher earned bronze in the under-18 female category; Judith Naluiyuk won a silver medal in the open female category, and Samson Esperon brought in a silver in the open male category.

On Tuesday, Nunavut’s Megan Willie won silver in the open female snow snake competition and Nunavik’s Mary Palliser Jones won a silver in the under-18 female category.

Team Nunavut’s medal standings as of Thursday morning include three gold, 12 silver and 10 bronze, bringing the total to 25.

Nunavik is still chasing a gold but has collected three silver and two bronze medals.

The Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse opened Sunday and run until Saturday. They brought together approximately 2,000 athletes from eight circumpolar regions Nunavut, Nunavik, Alaska, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, northern Alberta, Greenland and the Sápmi region of Scandinavia.