Alaska keeps lead in Arctic games medal count
Athletes from northern Alberta, Yukon catching up
Last Updated: Thursday, March 11, 2010 | 4:55 PM ET
CBC News
Indoor soccer is one of the 21 sports and indigenous games being played at the Arctic Winter Games this week in Grande Prairie, Alta. (CBC)Team Alaska is maintaining a strong lead in the medal count at this week's Arctic Winter Games in Grande Prairie, Alta., but athletes from northern Alberta are catching up.
Alaskan athletes had won 145 medals, or ulus, as of Thursday afternoon, followed by Team Alberta North with 71 ulus.
Meanwhile, third-place Team Yukon moved ahead of neighbouring Northwest Territories on Thursday, securing 58 ulus compared with the N.W.T.'s 54.
About 400 medals — they are shaped like ulus, or traditional Inuit knives — have been handed out so far since competition began Sunday. The games run until Saturday.
More than 2,000 young athletes have come to Grande Prairie from Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Yukon, northern Quebec, Alaska, Greenland, Scandinavia and Russia, as well as from northern Alberta.
They are taking part in 21 indoor and outdoor sporting events, including Dene and Arctic indigenous games. In sports like hockey and indoor soccer, teams are fighting to make the playoff rounds.
Each contingent has also brought cultural performers, musicians and artists to Grande Prairie to share their region's unique cultures with athletes, coaches and fans.
One of the most popular venues at the Games is the medical clinic at Grande Prairie Regional College, where sick and injured athletes are taken to be assessed and treated by a team of physicians, nurses, physiotherapists and massage therapists.
To date, more than 500 athletes have come to the clinic with a wide variety of complaints, said Melanie Hamilton, a registered nurse who is in charge of the facility.
"We've seen your basic bumps and bruises and scrapes and scratches, and then we've seen a little more serious [injuries] — possible broken bones, cuts, contusions," Hamilton said, adding staff have also seen head injuries and possible concussions.
Athletes with suspected bone fractures or concussions are X-rayed at the clinic, then transported to the local hospital if necessary.
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