Outside the AWG Host Society office in downtown Whitehorse. Photo Courtesy of Macklen Linke/CKRW.
Whitehorse, YT – It’s a bit surreal for staff at the Arctic Winter Games Host Society that after all their work, the opening ceremony takes place this Sunday.
“It’s such a strange feeling,” said AWG Host Society President Tracey Bilsky. “We’ve been at this for so long, planning for so long, and now to be in full operational mode is a bit surreal, but we have a lot of energy.”
The games will bring about 2,000 athletes, coaches and officials to Whitehorse for a week of competition and cultural events across roughly 20 sports. Team Yukon will include 365 athletes, coaches, chaperones, cultural participants and mission staff.
Athletes staying in Whitehorse schools will sleep on camping-style cots with sleeping mats, with breakfasts served on site and transportation provided to competition venues.
Bilsky said strong community support has also been evident in the number of volunteers stepping forward. Nearly 1,850 people have signed up to help run the event.
“What you’ll hear from a lot of games is that they struggle once they hit that kind of 800 mark, they’ll struggle after that. We didn’t at all,” said Bilsky. “It just kept flowing in.”
The hour-long opening ceremony begins Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at Shipyards Park.
