Norway's Joar Leifseth Ulsom wins 2018 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race


Norwegian musher Joar Leifseth Ulsom won the 2018 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Wednesday when he crossed the finish line in Nome, Alaska, just after 3 a.m. local time, the Anchorage Daily News reports. It is Leifseth Ulsom's first time winning the nearly 1,000-mile race, although his time — 9 days, 13 hours, and one minute — is almost half an hour shorter than his previous slowest Iditarod run in 2013. He claimed the slowest winning time since 2009.
Leifseth Ulsom had been trailing fellow musher Nic Petit on Monday, before Petit lost his lead during a snowstorm about 777 miles into the race. By the time Leifseth Ulsom reached White Mountain, the second-to-last checkpoint in the race on Tuesday, he had a nearly three-hour lead on Petit, The Associated Press reports.
Leifseth Ulsom is the third Iditarod winner born outside the United States, and he breaks a winning streak by the Seavey family; Dallas Seavey and his dad, Mitch Seavey, had alternated winning every Iditarod since 2011. Dallas sat out the 2018 race in protest of a scandal stemming from his dogs testing positive for the banned opioid pain reliever Tramadol after last year's Iditarod.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
-
Giant schnauzer wins top prize at Westminster show
Speed Read Monty won best in show at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club dog show
-
Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar take top Grammys
Speed Read Beyoncé took home album of the year for 'Cowboy Carter' and Kendrick Lamar's diss track 'Not Like Us' won five awards