Yellowknife (Apr 25/05) - Yellowknife has beaten Hay River and Fort Smith for the right to host the 2008 Arctic Winter Games.

The two South Slave communities and the capital have been locked in an intense rivalry for months, as both delegations vied to convince Games brass that they are best equipped to host the games.

The Arctic Winter Games committee announced Friday that Yellowknife will play host to the 20th Games.

The South Slave presented themselves as the underdogs, while counting on their show of community spirit to win the Games committee over.

Ultimately, the 250 km of air travel between Hay River and Fort Smith proved too far for the committee's liking, said Games president Gerry Thick.

"I think the air travel, the space available for the athletes and where officials were staying was questionable," said Thick.

The president said the committee was so impressed with Yellowknife's bid that hardly any conditions were attached to the contract offer to the city.

"This is one of the few contracts that doesn't have any specific conditions in the contract," said Thick.

"The selection committee was pretty impressed with the Yellowknife bid."

Regardless, he said both delegations made impressive bids, and the South Slave ought to be congratulated for their enthusiasm.

Yellowknife's organizing committee plans to recruit 2,000 volunteers to help run the event.

The overall budget is $3.5 million.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem believes the completion of the Multiplex twin pad arena last year played a crucial part in convincing the Games committee to choose Yellowknife.

"It's a significant facility for the whole North," said Van Tighem.

He also pointed to the city's past experience with the Games.

Bitter disappointment

The 2008 Games will mark the fifth time Yellowknife has played host, including the first ever Arctic Winter Games in 1970.

A disappointed Fort Smith mayor Peter Martselos said he wished Yellowknife simply would have stayed out of this one and given the South Slave a shot.

"It seems like Yellowknife wants everything," said Martselos.

"Yellowknife is busy enough the way it is."

Martselos said the rejection won't stop his community from making another bid in the future.

"I can't say this is the end," said Martselos.

The South Slave bid committee, on the other hand, issued a press release the same afternoon congratulating Yellowknife, encouraging "everyone" to support the city in 2008.

- with files from Paul Bickford