Young Yukoners have a long road trip ahead
The premier events in summer games, of course, are swimming and soccer, the world’s most popular sport, referred to as “the beautiful game” around the globe
In the hyperactive world of amateur sports in Canada, there are many road trips but only one Monster road trip, which covers nearly the entire horizontal length of this great country from the shadow of the St. Elias mountains in the west on the Alaska border to the most easterly city in North America, St. John’s in Newfoundland and Labrador, perched on the shore of the North Atlantic like the guardian of the Titanic derelict located nearby, deep on the ocean’s floor.
Whitehorse, capital of the Yukon Territory, is easily Canada’s most western community and the distance between the two is vast, but it’s not easy to pin down how vast.
The first time your intrepid geographer tried to calculate the total mileage of this monster road trip to be undertaken by Yukon athletes attending the 2025 Canada Summer Games from August 8-25, the number came back at just over 8,100 kms in a meandering vehicle driven leisurely across the country. Further investigation came up with these more official numbers:
Flight distance: 3,227 miles or 5193 km. Shortest direct drive: 4,771 miles or 7678 km.
The discrepancy is explained by planes flying over the polar route above the curvature of the Earth. Either way, it’s a long haul to get from the shadow of the Klondike goldfields to the graveyard of the Titanic without crossing any international borders.
The premier events in summer games, of course, are swimming and soccer, the world’s most popular sport, referred to as “the beautiful game” around the globe. The medal games will be played in the venerable King George V Soccer Stadium which is the oldest surviving soccer-specific stadium in North America with a seating capacity of 6,400 spectators although the attendance record is double that. It was built in 1925.
Rowing and triathlon were dropped from the ’25 games but Rugby sevens, both genders, were added and the U-18 Junior Soccer women were upgraded to full medal status, meaning we will now have 17 sports and 19 disciplines in play at St. John’s. They include: Artistic swimming, Athletics, Baseball, Basketball, Canoe kayak, Cycling, Diving, Golf, Lacrosse, Rugby sevens, Sailing, Soccer, Swimming, Tennis, Volleyball and Wrestling.
If the games organizers try to identify the individual Canadian athlete who travelled the farthest to attend and compete, he or she will certainly come from somewhere in the Yukon River watershed, possibly up near the Arctic Ocean, which is the end of the road in northwestern Canada or, in this case, the beginning.
These games will be the 16th edition of the Summer Games, and 31st overall, the third Canada Games hosted by Newfoundland and Labrador (1977 and 1999), and the second in the city of St. John’s (1977), according to their website intro.For full information about the 2025 Canada Games visit: canadagames.ca/future-games/st-johns-2025
[All photos and the logo used by generous permission of 2025 Canada Summer Games and Elizabeth Priest – Manager, Marketing & Communications. © Canada Summer Games]
