Team NT figure skaters, snowboarders and biathletes topped the podium on Tuesday as the Northwest Territories added seven gold ulus to its tally at the 2026 Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse.
Aven Ohokannoak won figure skating’s class one U18 female short program, Jaxin Coombs took gold in ski biathlon’s U15 male sprint, and Kobe White earned an impressive victory in snowboarding’s U14 male banked slalom on a tricky Mount Sima run.
“I didn’t expect to win at all. I was just going for fun and to do my best. I did not think I would place, let alone win gold,” said a delighted Ohokannoak, 14, from Yellowknife.
“I’m really happy. I’m super proud of myself. I did the best I could out there.”
There are more ulu possibilities in figure skating later in the week.
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“If I skate like I did today, I think I can have a pretty good chance,” Ohokannoak said.
Coombs, from Hay River, said it felt “great after a hard season of difficult temperatures” to win his first Arctic Winter Games gold ulu in his third Games appearance, following Wood Buffalo in 2023 and Mat-Su in 2024.
White, who won silver in rail jam earlier in the week, said it had been “really cold” during the morning’s practice runs, limiting his time to prepare for the banked slalom. Multiple outdoor events in Whitehorse only just squeaked above their -20C cold-weather cut-off on Tuesday.
The 13-year-old said he was proud of himself for his achievement and has dreams of eventually competing at the Canada Winter Games.
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Three of Tuesday’s four remaining gold ulus were supplied by speed skaters Russell MacKay, Brigid Murphy and Peter Mahon. Murphy and Mahon won over 500m in the U19 category, while MacKay won the U15 male 400m race after a fall by Yuma McEachern, who nevertheless broke his second Arctic Winter Games record of the week in the event’s heats earlier in the day.
The seventh gold ulu belonged to Abigail Arey, picking up her second title of the week by winning Dene Games’ snow snake event on Mount Sima.
In gymnastics’ team event, Team NT recorded its first podium finish in at least two decades, placing third.
Meanwhile, the NWT’s U18 male hockey team set up a Wednesday evening semi-final against hosts Yukon.
With some results still to be updated, as of Tuesday night Team NT sat third in the Whitehorse 2026 ulu table behind Alaska and Yukon.
The NWT is narrowly ahead of Alberta North and Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland), having finished fourth behind Alberta at the Mat-Su Games of 2024.
