A favorite to win the Iditarod sled dog race, a nearly 1,000-mile arctic haul across Alaska from Nome to Anchorage, dropped out of the event Monday less than 200 miles from the finish line because his dogs refused to continue.
Nicolas Petit of Girdwood, Alaska, and his 10 dogs were just off the Shaktoolik check point on a stretch of Bering Sea ice when a disagreement between two dogs, a veteran and a younger dog, caused the sled to pause, then completely halt, when Petit raised his voice to discipline the animals.
The 38-year-old’s sled earlier in the day left Shaktoolik in the lead “like a rocket,” he told local television station KTUU. But then one of his dogs wanted to stop for a bathroom break and an older dog jumped on top of it in disagreement. Petit raised his voice and it spooked the rest of the team, which refused to mush.
“Everybody heard Daddy yelling. Which doesn’t happen. And then they wouldn’t go anymore. Anywhere,” he said to KTUU.
Petit took his dogs back to a cabin at Shaktoolik to rest, but later decided to drop out entirely for the good of his dogs.
“They’re all fine, they all ate good, no orthopedic issue. Just a head thing,” he said.
• Pete Kaiser, from Bethel, Alaska, was the first musher to leave the checkpoint in White Mountain.
All mushers must take a mandatory eight-hour break at White Mountain before making a final 77-mile push to Nome.
Kaiser and defending champion Joar Ulsom of Norway are fighting for the lead. Ulsom arrived in White Mountain 41 minutes after Kaiser.
BASKETBALL
G LEAGUE: The Maine Red Claws acquired Maverick Rowan from the league’s available player pool.
Rowan, a 6-foot-7 forward out of N.C State, will join the team immediately – his fourth G League team in two seasons.
Rowan has played in 13 games this season with Austin and Westchester, averaging 6.0 points and 1.9 rebounds per game.
The Red Claws acquired Rowan to replace Trey Davis, who suffered a season-ending injury.
SOCCER
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first hat trick for Juventus to send the club into the quarterfinals with a 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid at Turin, Italy.
Ronaldo netted from open play in each half and then converted a late penalty as Juventus advanced 3-2 on aggregate, ending Atletico’s hopes of reaching the final.
• Manchester City tied the record for the biggest win in the last 16 by thrashing Schalke 7-0 at Manchester, England, completing a 10-2 aggregate victory to reach the quarterfinals for the third time in four seasons.
SKIING
WORLD CUP: Three-time Olympian Mattias Hargin will retire at the end of the season after 15 years on the circuit.
The slalom specialist from Sweden said Friday’s team event at the World Cup Finals will be his last race.
Hargin, 33, wrote on Instagram that “It’s time to say goodbye … It feels a bit weird but also exiting and interesting whats up next.”
Hargin says he has “now come to a point where I feel I don’t have what it takes to win races anymore. So it’s time to make a change, time to find a new challenge in life.”
Hargin won the slalom event at the Hahnenkamm races in Kitzbuehel in 2015 for his only individual World Cup victory from 135 starts, though he won the team event with Sweden at the finals in each of the past two seasons.
– Staff and news services
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