Jeff King (born 1956) is an American

musher Mushing is a sport or transport method powered by dogs. It includes carting, pulka, dog scootering, sled dog racing, skijoring, freighting, and weight pulling. More specifically, it implies the use of one or more dogs to pull a sled, most common ...

and

sled dog A sled dog is a dog trained and used to pull a land vehicle in Dog harness, harness, most commonly a Dog sled, sled over snow. Sled dogs have been used in the Arctic for at least 8,000 years and, along with watercraft, were the only transpor ...

racer. He is generally credited with introducing the sit-down sled which has largely replaced the standing sled traditionally used by distance mushers.

Early life

King was born and raised in California.

Mushing career

King moved to

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

in 1975 and began racing in 1976. He won the

Yukon Quest The Yukon Quest, formally the Yukon Quest 1,000-mile International Sled Dog Race, is a sled dog race scheduled every February since 1984 between Fairbanks, Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, and Whitehorse, Yukon, Whitehorse, Yukon, switching directions ...

in 1989, and the

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, more commonly known as The Iditarod (), is an annual long-distance sled dog race held in Alaska in early March. It travels from Anchorage to Nome. Mushers and a team of between 12 and 16 dogs, of which at lea ...

in 1993, 1996, 1998, and, at age 50, the

2006 Iditarod The ceremonial start of the 34th annual (XXXIV) Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across the United States, U.S. state of Alaska began amidst the crowds of Anchorage, Alaska, Anchorage on March 4, 2006, and the start of the competitive race, or "restar ...

, making him the oldest musher to have ever won the event, a distinction he held until 2017, when

Mitch Seavey Mitch Seavey (born 1959)Jodie Tweed, Brainerd Dispatch: Winner has Crosby ties'', March 17, 2004. URL last accessed 2012-10-29. is an United States, American mushing, dog musher, who won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across the U.S. state of Al ...

won at age 57.St. George 2006, para. 2.Alaska Dispatch, 13 March 2013 King ran the 2022 Iditarod, his 30th, but not the 2023 race. During the 2016 Iditarod race, King and fellow competitor Aliy Zirkle were assaulted by an intoxicated man on a snowmobile. The snowmobile struck King's team, killing one of his dogs. King's "Idita-Rider" -- a person who rides in the front storage compartment for the ceremonial start of the race -- for the 2005 Iditarod was a child sponsored by the Make-a-Wish Foundation. King has also won many other sled dog races. He has a kennel, Husky Homestead, near the entrance of

Denali National Park Denali National Park and Preserve, formerly known as Mount McKinley National Park, is a United States national park and preserve located in Interior Alaska, centered on Denali (federally designated as Mount McKinley), the highest mountain in Nor ...

. As of 2023 he was still racing. King was inducted into the Iditarod Hall of Fame in 1999. He was inducted into the

Alaska Sports Hall of Fame The Alaska Sports Hall of Fame honors Alaskan athletes, coaches, contributors, recurring events, and historic moments that have significantly impacted the sporting landscape of Alaska. The Hall was established in 2006 and the first class was in ...

in 2017.

Mentoring

King mentored

Amanda Otto Amanda Otto is an American musher and sled dog racer. In 2022, she made her rookie run with a team of Alaskan husky, Alaskan huskies in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Iditarod, and in 2023, placed second in the Yukon Quest, where she was cited ...

while she competed in her first races of Husky Homestead dogs in the Copper Basin 300, the Willow 300, and the Alpine 200 in 2021 to qualify for the Iditarod. Otto raced in the Iditarod for the first time in 2022, finishing 27th of 49 entries. In 2023 Otto placed second in the Yukon Quest Alaska, finishing in 4 days, 11 hours, and 17 minutes. Her team was in such good condition at the end of the race, still yelping and pulling, that she was awarded the Humanitarian Award by the race veterinary team in the first unanimous decision in race history.

Innovations

In the early 2000s King developed a sled with a seat for the musher, which he used in the 2004 Iditarod for the first time; he became so comfortable that he fell asleep and fell off the sled. His version of a sit-down sled was widely adopted by other distance mushers. He also developed a method of heating the musher's handlebar and an exercise wheel similar in design to a

hamster wheel A hamster wheel or running wheel is an exercise device used primarily by hamsters and other rodents, but also by other Cursorial, cursorial animals when given the opportunity. Most of these devices consist of a runged or ridged wheel held on a ...

for dogs.

Personal life

King has three daughters with his former wife, Donna Gates. The couple divorced in 2011. Stop Kavanaugh Rally - US Capitol Grounds - 09-04-2018 10

Victories

*Iditarod (4 times): 1993, 1996, 1998, 2006 *Yukon Quest: 1989 *Kuskokwim 300 (9): 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006 and 2013 *Copper Basin 300 (2): 1995, 2010 *Tustumena 200 (3): 2000

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Jeff 1956 births Dog mushers from Alaska Living people People from Denali Borough, Alaska People from Madera County, California Iditarod champions