The Arctic Winter Games were held within Northern Alberta for the first time since 2018. Team Alaska finished second overall with respect to winnings and gold medals and gold medals “ulus.”
Four Alaska athletes traveled to Juneau and had a chat with the KTOO’s Chloe Pleznac upon their return to talk about their experiences competing in the 2023 Olympic Games.
The content of this interview is edited to improve clarity and length.
Chloe Plznac Today, I am joined by discuss Alaska’s participation — and triumphs in the Arctic Winter Games are Matthew Quinto, Ezra Ellisoff, Kyle Worl and Lyric Ashenfelter. Also, Kyle, I’m going start with you. You won gold for Team Alaska in the Airplane Open Male. I was awestruck to find out what exactly this airplane event was about, as it’s more amazing that you were able to do it for so time. Could you please explain to me the process you use to compete in the event on an airplane?
Kyle Worl“The Airplane will be one of the 10 games in the Arctic sports division. It’s a classic Inuit game. The game begins by lying upon the ground in an iron cross-like position and your arms are out, and your legs straight. Then you’re lifted via your wrists and ankles. You’re lifted two feet off the ground. Then you need to maintain the iron cross as long as you can.
Chloe Pleznac: Wow. You kept it for an hour and three seconds?
Kyle Worl Yep. Three seconds and a minute. Matthew is here to count the seconds for me.
Chloe Peznac Ezra I’m curious about how you have won Gold in the event for Team Alaska in the Alaskan High Kick Open Male. Would you be able to provide me with a bit of information about the history of this event?
Ezra Elisoff Yeah, okay. It’s more to stay in good physical condition for long, cold winters. This is something I learned from Matthew in particular, when they would pick up ash and rub it onto mukluks or moccasins. Then they would attempt to kick the highest they can to the ceiling . The person who could make their footprints to the ceiling effectively take the lead. This game basically played for, you think it was about -60 or something similar to this. If you didn’t want to hunt during that time, you’d simply stay inside and wait for winter to pass.
Chloe Pleznac: Matthew you were a bronze medalist at this year’s Alaskan High Kick Open Male. It was your first time taking part. It was your fellow students’ first time at the school. What was your experience like?
Matthew Quinto This was great time. My favorite part was meeting everyone from different countries and making new friends. It was also the camaraderie that occurred throughout the entire time we were in the exact same room as well as different, like rooms, however, we all shared the same floor each night, in the same location, and a lot of bonding could occur.
Chloe Pleznac Lyrics you placed bronze in your participation in the Arm Pull 2005 or later. What was it like while you were there when you were taking part?
Lyric Ashenfelter: Oh, I was nervous initially. However, I also had a large amount of faith in myself because I was confident that I could go far when I was really determined to. It was quite enjoyable however. The other ladies from other teams were extremely friendly and very helpful. Overall it was an extremely enjoyable experience. It’s even more fun when you’re all having fun cheering each other on. It’s really awesome. So, I got to where I am now and, it was fantastic.
Chloe Pleznac: What are you doing to prepare for these kinds of events? Certain events, such as flying need multiple people to help you up, surely? What was the process like when you were preparing?
Kyle Worl Okay, I think they’ve been working on it for quite a while. At least Matthew as well as Ezra here were part of the team for 2020. They were in practicing for the 2020 team. It was cancelled about a week before. Three years after, they finally get the chance to return. It’s three years at a minimum however, their education began for Ezra who was in the freshman year of high school. He’s only one year removed from high school and is now in Matthew Junior year. Also it’s been several years of practice in these games. Training is essentially just doing the games. The overall fitness level is crucial. Some cardio, lifting weights and plyometrics are always beneficial but nothing can make you feel better in the competitions like training for the event itself. It’s just a matter of time and effort.
Chloe Plznac: So Kyle you were the one to bring the Juneau’s Native Youth Olympics team up in 2018 after many years of absence. Let us know about the connection to Native Youth Olympics and the Arctic Winter Games.
Kyle Worl Native Youth Olympics specifically refers the sport at the K-12 level. There are many games that overlap. Native Youth Olympics are all built in Indigenous northern games, and so is Arctic sports, however there are a myriad of games to be found at various events. Arctic Winter Games will be one of the highlights sporting event in the sport. I see it as like basketball, where you can find the NBA which is the most prestigious accomplishment of the sport. In the case of Native Youth Olympics, it’s Arctic Winter Games to be in a position to represent the state of your home or, more accurately, we’re representing our nation. Arctic Winter Games is a enormous honor, and it’s an enormous event that requires an incredible amount of coordination between a variety of nations. This is an incredible honour and an amazing experience to be a part of it all.
Chloe Plznac: Ezra you competed during your participation in the Native Youth Olympics and placed first in the Alaskan high kick statewide competition in 2020. How was it getting to take part in international competitions,
Ezra Elisoff The experience was amazing. It was a challenge to communicate with some of the athletes who do not necessarily speak English quite well was not easy however, if we could get similar messages across and. It was quite amazing. It was like the state NYO, however it was a lot larger, as there was an open division. This meant that everyone was more experienced and older. At first, it seemed intimidating. However, the time passed and we started to get used to one another and playing about, and it was quite enjoyable.
Chloe Plznac: What were the other countries in the mix?
The Ezra Elisoff There is Greenland, Northern Alberta, all of the provinces in Canada. One team was removed from the team this year’s.
Kyle WorlNormally, Russia is a participant in the Arctic Winter Games, but due to the war in Ukraine the country was not allowed to participate this year.
Chloe Plznac: The athletes in traditional sporting events like The Native Youth Olympics, and the Arctic Winter Games come from different backgrounds. Do you think it will help raise awareness of these events to the general public?
Kyle Worl It seems like a common misconception regarding traditional games (or Native Youth Olympics can be that they’re only for Native people. However, the majority of events are open for anyone to take part in. Everyone is accepted. It’s an excellent cross-cultural learning experience to anyone, no matter you’re not part of any Alaska Native culture to learn about the indigenous people of northern Alaska through games is effective. I’d be interested in seeing the expansion of traditional games to more than only the Arctic. And I believe Juneau is a good illustration of this. We’re a long way away from Arctic Here within Southeast Alaska. However, these games are spreading into this region from Yakutat up to Metlakatla. There’s an upcoming event on the 1st and 2nd of April — The Juneau Traditional Games — and we’ll see the squad that comes from Santa Fe. Therefore, there is no limit on where the games could go in my opinion. My ultimate goal is to have it be part of the world Olympics and this sport, which originates that is being played from the Arctic is being played in the spotlight of the world.
Find a complete listing of Alaska’s medal winners here.
