In this March 15, 2009, Jeff King leaves the Kaltag, Alaska, checkpoint on the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Emergency surgery has sidelined the four-time race winner days before he was set to compete in his 30th race. King withdrew Tuesday, March 3, 2020, over concerns for his health, a spokeswoman for the Iditarod told The Associated Press. The race will start Sunday north of Anchorage. (AP Photo/Al Grillo,File)

In this March 15, 2009, Jeff King leaves the Kaltag, Alaska, checkpoint on the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Emergency surgery has sidelined the four-time race winner days before he was set to compete in his 30th race. King withdrew Tuesday, March 3, 2020, over concerns for his health, a spokeswoman for the Iditarod told The Associated Press. The race will start Sunday north of Anchorage. (AP Photo/Al Grillo,File)

4-time Iditarod champ sidelined

Jeff King withdrew Tuesday over concerns for his health.

  • By Rachel D’Oro Associated Press
  • Tuesday, March 3, 2020 11:04pm
  • News

ANCHORAGE — Emergency surgery has sidelined a four-time winner of Alaska’s famed Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race days before he was set to compete in his 30th race.

Jeff King withdrew Tuesday over concerns for his health, a spokeswoman for the Iditarod told The Associated Press. The race will start Sunday north of Anchorage.

Messages left with King at the hospital and his cellphone were not immediately returned.

The 64-year-old musher posted a picture of himself on Facebook in a hospital bed with the words, “Curve ball.”

A separate Facebook posting from his kennel, Husky Homestead Tours, said King began to feel ill Monday night shortly after an Iditarod-affiliated event in Anchorage and went to a hospital with abdominal pain. He later underwent emergency surgery for a hernia and perforated intestine.

“Unfortunately, this does mean that Jeff will not be on the runners heading to Nome this year,” the posting said.

King has won the race four times, including in 1993 in only his fourth race. His other wins came in 1996, 1998 and 2006. King has finished 20 times in the top 10.

King was leading the 2014 race until he got lost in a blizzard near the last checkpoint, just about 22 miles from the end of the 1,000-mile race and had to scratch.

Two years later, King was one of two competitors targeted by a man who drove a snowmobile into their dog teams. One of King’s dogs, Nash, was killed, and other dogs were injured near the checking point in the village of Nulato. The man ended up pleading guilty to felony criminal mischief and misdemeanor charges of assault, reckless endangerment and driving under the influence. He was given a six-month sentence.

His total career earnings in the Iditarod are $967,789. When the race was experiencing financial problems in 2010, King donated $50,000 for the winner’s purse.


• By Rachel D’Oro, Associated Press


More in News

A stack of the Seward Journal is pictured. The town’s only daily newspaper published its last edition Nov. 27. (Photo via Seward Journal Facebook page)
‘A thing of the past’

Seward Journal calls it quits after struggle to keep newspaper afloat

Tim Navarre and Dana Cannava discuss a preliminary Soldotna route for the Kahtnu Area Transit with Planner Bryant Wright at the Challenger Learning Center of Alaska in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Getting people where they need to go

Plans for Kenaitze Indian Tribe’s Kahtnu Area Transit move forward

A state plow truck clears snow from the Kenai Spur Highway on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
DOT identifies roads included in brine reduction plan

The department said its goal is to reduce brine use overall in the region by 40%

Soldotna High School senior Josiah Burton testifies in opposition to the proposed cut of Kenai Peninsula Borough School District theater technicians while audience members look on during a board of education meeting on Monday, March 6, 2023 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
School board finance group reviews expenditures ahead of upcoming budget cycle

As the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District prepares to grapple with another… Continue reading

Members of the Kenai/Soldotna Fish and Game Advisory Committee raise hands to vote in favor of a proposal during a meeting at Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Silver salmon, personal use fishing discussed by advisory committee

The group set their recommendations on a variety of proposals to the State Board of Fisheries

Hoses pump water along Patrick Drive to help mitigate flooding near Kalifornsky Beach Road on Friday, July 21, 2023, near Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Borough spent almost $78k responding to flood events during disaster declaration

Most of the funds were spend in the northwest area of Kalifornsky Beach Road

The National Weather Service’s map shows a winter weather advisory, in orange, effective for much of the eastern Kenai Peninsula. (Screenshot)
Heavy snow, blowing winds forecast for Turnagain Pass on Wednesday

Snow accumulations of up to 16 inches are expected

The Kenai Courthouse is seen on Monday, July 3, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Grand jury adds charges in October killing of Homer woman

The indictment was delivered on Nov. 8

Alaska State Troopers logo.
Anchorage resident arrested in Nikiski after troopers investigate reports of stolen vehicle

Troopers responded to a residential address in Nikiski around 11:30 a.m. after being notified by Sirius XM that a stolen vehicle was there

Most Read