INUVIK
It's not often someone wins a high-profile contest like the men's one-foot high kick at the Traditional Circumpolar Northern Games and says he's just as proud of coaching his sister to multiple medals.

Chris Church of Inuvik soared to the nine-foot mark as he won the open men's one-foot high kick at the Traditional Circumpolar Northern Games July 26. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo

That was the case July 26 when Inuvik's Chris Church won the kicking contest in a dominating fashion.

He topped out at the nine-foot mark after leaving his competitors behind at eight-foot-four.

Inuvik had multiple competitors in the contest, with James Day Jr. being the first to be eliminated. Kyle Kuptana and James Williams hung in longer, but no one could come close to Church's leaps.

Before the Northern Games started, Church had quietly predicted he would break the Canadian record of nine-feet, two inches, and said he was approaching the world record of nine feet 10 inches in practice.

Earlier this year, he hit nine-foot-one during the trials for the Arctic Winter Games, so he had some reason to be confident.

Despite winning the gold medal, Church said he was a little disappointed with his performance.

"I've won it before at the same height so it doesn't really faze me right now," he said. "It was really good competition, with all these guys coming to town, but I'm just kind of shocked that I didn't jump to my usual record. I guess it just wasn't to be.

"I'm a little disappointed."

He said he was considerably more excited about the performance of his 13-year-old sister Caitlyn, who won a total of five medals.

Chris helped coach her, particularly in the kicking events, and it was obvious she's inherited a good measure of the family talent with her performance at her first Northern Games.

"It was a pleasure working with my sister because it was her first games in the circumpolar and she did pretty good with one gold, two silvers and a bronze. I couldn't be a happier brother at all. It's not me coaching her – it's all herself and her talents."

Caitlyn had her own perspective.

"Well, he helped me a lot," said Caitlyn. "He got me into these games, he helped coach me, so it's pretty good."

Inuvik athletes, as a whole, did well for themselves in the games, led by the senior male contingent.

Their performance was even more impressive considering many of the town's top athletes were away at the North American Indigenous Games in Saskatchewan.

Edward Lennie, the father of the modern Northern Games, was on hand all week to watch the events, which in many ways are his legacy.

"It really makes me feel good to watch them," Lennie said. "After the games are over, I can tell where they're making their mistakes and tell them."

Lennie began his campaign to bring back the traditional games all those years ago after attending what was billed as an Arctic Games competition, he recalled.

He said despite the name, the sports were all "southern" games, and he wanted to bring back the games of his youth.

Lennie said the teenagers at the time took readily to the games, which had nearly passed out of memory, and have flourished since.