At 34, Seavey becomes 2nd to win 5 Iditarods
Since 2012, when Dallas Seavey became the youngest winner of the Iditarod sled dog race, he’s been bombarded by “if ” he could get five titles, the most ever by a musher.
“I think it was probably 10 minutes after I won that first race that somebody mentioned five,” he said before this year’s race. “At that point, I said I got to worry about No. 2 first. I may be homeschooled, but I know that much, two comes after one.”
Now 34 and possibly the sport’s greatest champion, Seavey on Monday collected his fifth Iditarod title, winning the pandemicshortened race by more than three hours over secondplace musher Aaron Burmeister.
Seavey matched the record of five wins by Rick Swenson, known as the King of the Iditarod for picking up those titles from 197791.
“That’s huge, man,” he said. “I looked up to the Iditarod champions my whole life and I’ve dreamed about this my whole life. And now to actually go from that, to see it happen, to realize that, that’s pretty cool.”
Seavey completed the 848mile trail in 7 days, 14 hours, 8 minutes and 57 seconds. He also won in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016.
The victory marked Seavey’s return to the race that has been a part of his family’s history since the start. His grandfather, Dan Seavey, placed third in the first Iditarod in 1973.
Colleges: Students at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., leveled racial epithets at the men’s lacrosse team visiting from Emmanuel College in Franklin Springs, Ga. The school said they hurled “appalling epithets directed at people of color . ... So pronounced were the shouted slurs in the third quarter that the game officials on the field ordered that Sewanee fans be cleared before play could continue.”
⏩ The ACC eliminated its rule requiring athletes to sit out a season if they transfer within the league. The NCAA still requires athletes in highprofile Division I sports to sit out when they transfer to a DI school, but that rule is expected to change soon.
Sailing: Defender Team New Zealand passed and beat Italian challenger Luna Rossa twice in one day, taking a 53 lead in the
America’s Cup in Auckland, New Zealand. In the eighth race, New Zealand turned a seemingly crushing defeat into an almost incomprehensible victory. The stunning turn of events put Team New Zealand in position to win the oldest trophy in sports if it wins twice Tuesday.
Golf: The World Champions Cup — a Ryder Cupstyle event for Champions Tour players — will debut in the fall of 2022. It will feature ninehole matches twice a day among Team USA, Team Europe and Team World. Jim Furyk will be the playing captain for the Americans, while Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland will do the same for Team Europe and Ernie Els of South Africa leads Team World. ⏩ Former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland, Scott Piercy and Doc Redman tested positive for the coronavirus and withdrew from the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. The infections follow two tournaments in Florida with roughly 8,000 fans allowed.
Tennis:
France’s Richard Gasquet, 34, defeated Marco Cecchinato 64, 62 in the first round of the Dubai Championships for his 550th career win, the sixth active player to reach the mark.
Soccer: Valencia midfielder Yunus Musah committed to the U.S. program, four months after his national team debut. He also was eligible to play for England, Italy and Ghana . ... Lionel Messi scored twice and tied Xavi Hernandez for most appearances in Barcelona history (767), putting the Argentine playmaker within four points of the Spanish league lead after beating lastplace Huesca 41 in Madrid . ... Diogo Jota scored the winner against his former club as Liverpool won 10 at Wolverhampton in an English Premier League match that ended with Wolves goalkeeper Rui Patricio carried off with a head injury.
Boxing: Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury signed on for two fights to unify the world heavyweight titles. The first will be in June or July, location to be determined. Joshua holds the WBA, IBF and WBO belts; Fury has the WBC title.
Running: The pandemicdelayed Boston Marathon will allow 20,000 entrants, about twothirds of those who signed up for last year’s canceled race) to allow social distancing.