Rankin Inlet’s strongest man and woman contest a screaming success

In a challenge to find the strongest man in Rankin Inlet, Qaritaq Kusugak-Clark relied on his hockey training to rise to the top of the men’s side in the hamlet’s first strongest man and women competition.

“If it weren’t for hockey and getting ready for the hockey season, I don’t think it would have been possible for me to win,” said Kusugak-Clark, who is entering his third year as a hockey player and student at Lake Forest College in Lake Forest, Ill.

The inaugural Rankin Inlet strongest man and woman competition was held at the Agnico Eagle Arena on Wednesday and included 28 men and 15 women.

It was organized by Ilitaqsiniq, a non-profit group that delivers cultural programming to encourage wellness and an active lifestyle.

Qaritaq Kusugak-Clark won on the men’s side and Amelia Ipkornerk was the strongest woman.

Each side had an elimination round to start, where only 10 participants advanced. That was followed by a set of challenges where points were collected.

Some of the competitions included a tire flip, an obstacle course, a medicine ball-throwing contest and a one-minute burpee challenge.

The obstacle course saw contestants pick up an 80-pound sandbag, run through obstacles and do squats with it, then pick up another sandbag and cross the finish line carrying a total of 160 pounds.

For Kusugak-Clark and the other men, the elimination challenge was a tire-lifting contest where contestants stood in the middle of a loader tire and lifted it as many times as they could in a minute.

Kusugak-Clark said the toughest challenges for him were the shuttle run and the tire-flipping.

Qaritaq Kusugak-Clark, centre right, poses as the winner of Rankin Inlet’s strongest man competition. (Photo courtesy of Ilitaqsiniq)

The crowd was loud, especially during the races, he added.

“It was awesome,” he said. “You heard a lot of screaming [from the crowd].”

He encouraged Nunavummiut to adopt a healthy and active lifestyle, adding that even without working out some contestants were very capable in the strongest man competition.

“If people put in a little bit of effort, they’d really surprise themselves and I challenge people to do that,” he said.

For the women’s competition, Ipkornerk said she was “kind of shocked” to win.

The first challenge for the women was to carry a large sandbag to one line and back, with the top 10 advancing. The toughest of all the challenges for Ipkornerk was the tire flipping, involving a tire from a loader; she said it felt like the tire weighed around 200 pounds.

She said her mother is strong, so that may be where she gets her strength. But, she added, she also exercises and plays soccer to stay in shape.

Even though they were competing, all the women were encouraging each other, Ipkornerk said.

“The best part of the competition was everyone cheering for each other,” she said.

Organizer Adriana Kusugak said the crowd was vocal and encouraging not only to the winners but every competitor on the turf, Kusugak said.

The event was streamed on social media as well and created a lot of hype, she added.

“It went nuts,” Kusugak said.

She said people have already asked Ilitaqsiniq to make the competition an annual event so they can have a fitness goal to work toward.

“And that’s the whole point,” Kusugak said.