Musher forced out of Iditarod sled dog race after testing positive for Covid

The Ophir checkpoint of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race (Zachariah Hughes/AP)

A veteran musher was removed from the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race after he tested positive for coronavirus, organisers said.

Gunnar Johnson, 52, of Duluth, Minnesota, was withdrawn from the event at the McGrath, Alaska, checkpoint, the organisers said in a news release.