Photo: Bob Hallinen/Anchorage Daily News/Tribune News Service/Getty
Four-time Iditarod winner Lance Mackey hasdied. He was 52.
Mackey’s kennelannouncedthe news of his death in a Facebook post on Wednesday, sharing, “Lance passed away this evening after a long battle with cancer.”
Officials for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race mourned the loss of Mackey onInstagramalongside a collage of photos of the celebrated competitor.
“We at Iditarod Nation are mourning the loss of 4-time Iditarod Champion, Lance Mackey. Lance passed away late in the evening of September 7, 2022 after a 20+ year battle of cancer,” the post read.
Prior to his death, Mackey opened up about being diagnosed with cancer for a second time in an Aug. 5Facebook post. He described the last several months as the “hardest/ worst part” as he received 24-hour care at a hospital.
Mackey was previously diagnosed with throat cancer in 2001; however, he went on to win four straight Iditarod races, from 2007 through 2010.
He also became the only musher to win both the Iditarod and Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race — a competition between Canada and Alaska — in the same year in 2007, according toAlaska Public Media.
Lance King/Getty
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He later struggled with health and drug issues.
Due to treatment for his throat cancer, he lost his saliva glands and his teeth disintegrated. He also suffered from Raynaud’s syndrome, a condition which limits blood supply to the hands and feet, according to theAssociated Press.
Mackey took a break from racing in 2015 and returned to the Iditarod in 2019 when he finished 26th. In 2020, Mackey was disqualified from the race after testing positive for methamphetamine, according to the AP.
source: people.com
