Thompson will welcome up to 1,800 athletes in early March of next year, having been announced as the new 2018 Power Smart Manitoba Winter Games host by Sport Manitoba Jan. 19.
The games were originally scheduled to be held in Virden but the host committee withdrew Dec. 12, citing a lack of confidence in being able to recruit the approximately 1,000 volunteers the games will require.
Sport Manitoba noted in the press release announcing Thompson as host that the city had previously shown strong interest in hosting a Manitoba Games again, having done so before in 1994, by unsuccessfully bidding on the 2014 Winter Games and attending the host bid workshop for the 2018 games.
Sport Manitoba, the lead agency for the development of amateur sport in the province, held an informational meeting for the City of Thompson and the School District of Mystery Lake on Jan. 7 and city council and the school board both voted unanimously earlier this week on resolutions approving their participation.
Sport, Culture and Heritage Minister Rochelle Squires thanked Thompson for taking on the challenge of hosting with less time to prepare then usual.
Sport Manitoba's interim CEO Laurel Read said the 2018 games will feature competitors who will go on to compete in the Canada Games and possibly the Olympics in the future.
Mayor Dennis Fenske said the city is honoured and excited by the opportunity to host the games, which will include archery, badminton, cross-country skiing, curling, gymnastics, figure skating, hockey, ringette, wrestling, table tennis and, for the first time, speed skating.
Manitoba Games are held every two years, alternating between winter and summer competitions.
