Biathlete from Greenland proud to represent Inuit at her first Olympics

Ukaleq Slettemark's uniform at the Olympics won't include the flag of Greenland, but the 20-year-old biathlete from Nuuk, Greenland will represent her Inuit heritage and homeland as a member of Team Denmark. 

Slettemark designed the race suit for the Danish biathletes, integrating Inuit tattoo lines, or tunniit, into the look. 

"I'm really proud of it and I'm really proud that this is what I can show off at the Olympics," she told Cindy Alorut, host of CBC's Qulliq.

Slettemark got her start back in 2016 at the Arctic Winter Games in Nuuk. The Greenland team needed athletes to compete in ski biathlon and because she had a bit of experience in the sport she started training, she said. 

She brought home a gold in the biathlon four kilometre sprint. 

Since then the sport has  become her passion.

"I don't think I will ever give up this sport even if I stop being an athlete. I don't think I can stop the sport because I just love it so much," she said. 

Slettemark said she puts in around 650 hours per year of physical training and has fired around 10,000 to 15,000 shots in target practice this year alone. 

Her life is pretty much eating, sleeping, training "and not much else." 

Slettemark said she's felt huge support from people in Greenland. 

"It's such a small place," she said. "People tell me that 'I would watch you on TV, even though I never watch sports.'" 

A big motivator for her are the small kids who watch her and tell her they want to try biathlon. 

She said she's mostly excited but expects the nerves will hit a day or two before competition. 

Jesse Cockney, who competed in cross-country skiing at the Winter Olympics in 2014 and 2018, said he's excited for Slettemark.  

Cockney is Inuvialuit and his dad, Angus Cockney