King has slight lead in Iditarod

Two winners of multiple Iditarods have emerged as the front-runners in the 1,100-mile sled dog race to Nome, but both remain wary of the strong field chasing them up the windswept Yukon River.

Three-time winner Jeff King of Alaska was the first musher Saturday to steer his team into the village of Kaltag after a 150-mile stretch through snowdrifts on the frozen Yukon. King was followed 11 minutes later by four-time champ Doug Swingley, of Lincoln, Mont.

Kaltag is an Athabascan village about 350 miles from the finish line in Nome, an old gold mining town on the Bering Sea.

King said he could see Swingley’s team in the distance on the Yukon Saturday as his own team broke the trail through piles of soft snow.

“It didn’t surprise me. In Nulato, I could tell he had no intention of staying,” said King, who rested his team in the checkpoint for about three hours.

Swingley said he could tell he was gaining on King.

“My dogs are faster,” Swingley said.

Auto racing

Alonso victorious

Defending Formula One champion Fernando Alonso of Renault almost collided with one Ferrari and held off the challenge of the other to win the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir, Bahrain.

Alonso’s close call came in the eighth lap, when Felipe Massa skidded in front of him, almost crashing into the 24-year-old Spaniard. The incident forced Massa into the pit, leaving Alonso with only seven-time former champion Michael Schumacher to worry about.

A well-planned pit strategy helped Alonso hold off the German.

Cycling

Landis a winner

Floyd Landis is making a case to become the successor to Lance Armstrong.

The 30-year-old American won the Paris-Nice race, collecting his second victory this year and showing he may be a contender for the Tour de France title.

Landis finished the final stage 18 seconds behind Marcus Zberg, who finished the 84-mile ride in 3 hours, 29 minutes, 38 seconds.

Obituaries

Snowboarder dies

Swedish snowboarder Jonatan Johansson died after losing control during a jump and falling during a snowboardcross run down Whiteface Mountain in Wilmington, N.Y.

A state police report said Johansson, 26, tried to correct himself but landed hard. An autopsy found the cause of death to be multiple internal injuries.

•Former Olympic water polo champion Jesus Rollan, who at 37 was considered one of the best goalkeepers in the sport, died after falling from a rooftop terrace at a spa in Madrid, Spain.

•Istvan Gyulai, the Hungarian runner who became the secretary general of the IAAF, died in Moscow after a battle with cancer. He was 62.