Coaches and athletes rejoice as the Native Youth Olympics make in-person return

The last time Chevak senior Chandler Ulroan was able to attend and participate in the Native Youth Olympics was his freshman year in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the annual athletic contest, where young athletes from around Alaska come to test their might and resolve, to be held virtually.

“It was great,” Ulroan said. “I’ve been coming here since seventh grade.”

While he didn’t produce a finish in the wrist carry to earn him a spot on the podium, the 18-year-old was by far the most impressive and inspiring student-athlete to take the court in the main gym at the Alaska Airlines Center on Thursday afternoon.

Ulroan moves with the assistance of a wheelchair, but that didn’t stop him from finding or participating in a sport he could compete in, said Chevak coach Anthony Boyscout.

“He inspired a few kids,” Boyscout said. “Back home, there are a few things to do, but this is the only sport and event he can do and he’s competitive.”

Ulroan and his fellow Olympians took part in the 2020 and 2021 games virtually from their respective cities, towns, villages and communities, from the heavily populated to the most remote areas of the state.

“It’s exciting,” Boyscout said about the games being back in person. “Kids are happy, they’re all ready to go. All our kids were happy everywhere.”

Outside of practicing the event itself, training for wrist carry includes multiple exercises that engage and strengthen the wrist and upper body.

“I hang on my wrists and do pullups,” Ulroan said.

He said he tries to do as many pullups as he can when training, and that the most he’s ever done consecutively was 50. His teammates and carriers say he can do more pullups than anyone on the team.

“It’s very impressive,” Boyscout said. “We built a small contraption for him to do chin-ups and wrist carry practice when he was in seventh grade.”

Ulroan said that being able to actually compete in a sport despite his disability means a lot to him, and he intends to continue competing even after he graduates because the age limit on participants for the games is 19 years old.

The first-place finisher in the wrist carry was Dillingham’s Ethan Jenkins with a mark of 535 feet, 3 3/4 inches. The junior has been competing in the games since he was in the seventh grade as well and is both glad and grateful for the opportunity to do so in person after a two-year hiatus.

[’You can always go further mentally than you can physically’: Wrist carry champions test their resolve]

“It’s really great just the hype and everything just makes you feel good,” Jenkins said.

Bethel High School senior Landon Smith is participating in the games for the first time this year. He produced a respectable mark in the wrist carry but it wasn’t far enough to earn him a spot on the podium, which is unfamiliar territory for the four-time state champion wrestler.

“It was very fun just getting to see everybody go before me and seeing what a good distance was,” Smith said. “My friends told me to try it out, I gave it a try and I really liked it.”

Smith wasn’t the only state champion wrestler participating in the games. Myles Campbell of the Mat-Su A-Team not only took part in the wrist carry, his mark of 396 feet, 3 1/2 inches was far enough to earn him third place. As a member of the Redington High School wrestling team, he won the Division II title for the 112-pound weight class.

Anchorage’s Joanna Hopson is the coach and mother of Girls Alaskan High Kick champion Eden Hopson. She said she is elated that the games are not only back in person but that the face masks are no longer required indoors, so that emotions of both coaches and athletes can be seen.

“It’s amazing to see everybody’s faces,” Hopson said. “Just to be in person and not have a mask is huge because you can see the smiles, see the disappointments, then the smiles afterwards makes a huge difference. It’s just so nice being with people again.”

Her daughter echoed similar sentiments after she won her event.

“I love it a lot more,” Hopson said. “We get to see everyone’s faces, be able to talk with them, be able to help each other, be a lot more encouraging. It’s a lot more different from when we were virtual with just our own team if anything.”