There’s still time for Nunavut to make a move at Canada Summer Games

It ain’t over till it’s over, but at the halfway point in the Canada Summer Games, Nunavut is still looking for a win.

As the first week of the national athletic competition in St. John’s, N.L., came to an end, Nunavut was still looking to make a breakthrough.

Its men’s and women’s basketball teams both went through their preliminary rounds without notching a win. The men’s and women’s beach volleyball teams similarly went through the week without a victory.

That leaves the territory’s wrestlers and volleyball players to hit the mat and take to the court next week.

In total, there are 17 sports in which athletes from across Canada compete. Nunavut doesn’t have anyone competing in sports like tennis, golf, sailing, lacrosse or rugby.

Nunavut competes in four sports at the Canada Summer Games — basketball, beach volleyball, volleyball and wrestling.

So, in the medal hunt, bigger provinces that compete in more sports have an advantage over Nunavut.

Nunatsiaq News has kept tabs on the basketball and beach volleyball competition because readers want to see how the territory’s athletes fare. And the Games are a pleasant summertime distraction from other issues in the headlines — the Canada-U.S. trade war, war in Ukraine, and famine in Gaza.

Of course, one of the biggest news stories of the summer — Canada’s wildfire problems — intersected with the Canada Summer Games after fires broke out in an uncharacteristically parched Newfoundland and Labrador.

Smoke from fires just outside the provincial capital and biggest city forced a postponement in outdoor competitions, including beach volleyball where Nunavut’s teams were competing.

Nunavut athletes have enjoyed fan support, according to coverage by reporter Daron Letts, who followed Team Nunavut last week.

It’s probably a recognition of the adversity Nunavut athletes need to overcome just to be at the Games — a small population from which to select its team, a lack of recreational facilities to develop athletes, the high cost of training and extensive travel required to even get to that level.

Of course it’s nice to be a crowd favourite, but the Games are a national competition. Athletes are there to compete and, ideally, to win. For a lot of them, the national event that’s held every four years is the highest level of competition they will play at.

Two weeks ago, our editorial proclaimed that Nunavut was an “underdog, no more.”

It argued that wrestler Eekeeluak Avalak’s 2022 gold medal win proved Nunavut can succeed at the Canada Summer Games.

Hopefully, that wasn’t a jinx. Unfortunately, Nunavut did continue to play its traditional underdog role.

There’s still hope in wrestling and volleyball.

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