Norwegian musher wins 2018 Iditarod

WASILLA — Since finishing as the top rookie in 2013, Joar Leifseth Ulsom has been one of the top young mushers in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Now the 31-year-old Norwegian can claim Iditarod gold.

Ulsom passed underneath Nome’s famed burled arch just after 3 a.m. Wednesday morning to win the 2018 Iditiard.

This is the sixth straight top-7 finish for the native of Mo I Rana, Norway. Ulsom notched his second fourth-place finish last year. He was also sixth in 2015 and 2016. Ulsom entered the 2018 race with more than $200,000 of total winnings in the Iditarod.

After dropping two dogs during his mandatory eight-hour layover in White Mountain, Ulsom hit the final checkpoint at Safety at 11:53 p.m. Tuesday. Ulsom needed just less than eight hours to make the 55-mile trek to Safety. He also left two dogs in White Mountain after the 46-mile trip from Elim. Ulsom has averaged between 6.09 and 6.93 mph since leaving Koyuk on Monday.

As of 2 a.m. Wednesday, four mushers had left White Mountain en route to Safety. Ray Redington Jr of Wasilla headed toward the final checkpoint at 1:48 a.m. Wednesday morning. Girdwood’s Nic Petitt and defending champion Mitch Seavey of Seward were between Ulsom and Redington in the race standings. Eight other mushers were on their mandatory layover in White Mountain. This is a developing story.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com. Follow him on Twitter @matsu_sports.