Sharing the arctic Spirit
The motto for Barents Games is "Sharing the arctic spirit." By working together across the four Barents countries, athletes, coaches, managers and referees are given the opportunity to share knowledge and experience through international sports competitions.
Barents Games gathers approximately 1,000 athletes aged between 15 and 25 every year to compete within a particular sporting event. Participants come from the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.
Barents Games takes place over a weekend, and are held every other year as the Winter Games and every other year as the Summer Games. The games are held alternately between the four countries.
There are 30 different sports on the Barents Games program
The objectives of the Barents Games
- Barents Games will be a unique experience for the participants. An important objective is that athletes feel pride in representing their country at an international competition.
- Barents Games will give participants the opportunity to compete internationally and to develop both as an athlete and get the motivation to compete in their chosen sport for longer. For many participants, this will be the first time they compete against international opposition.
- Barents Games will give participants a sense of pride at being from the Barents region.
- Barents Games will, in addition to its sporting goals, develop tolerance and cultural understanding. Where four different cultures meet, there is clear sporting collaboration between the countries. Barents Games puts people-to-people cooperation into practice - "Developing friendship through sports in the Barents Region".
The first Barents Games took place in 2014 in Tromsø, Norway. Rather than each sport competing alone, several sports gathered simultaneously to create a joint event. The Barents Sports Committee own the concept of the Barents Games.
Previous Barents Games events:
2014: Barents Winter Games, Tromsø (Norway)
2015: Barents Summer Games, Oulu (Finland)
2016: Barents Winter Games, Murmansk (Russia)
2017: Barents Summer Games, Bodø (Norway)
Future Barents Games events:
2018: Barents Winter Games, Sweden
2019: Barents Summer Games, Russia
2020: Barents Winter Games, Finland