Brent Sass will retire from dog sled racing on Monday after sexual assault allegations

Iditarod and Yukon Quest champion Brent Sass announced Wednesday that he is retiring from sled dog racing.

In February, the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race disqualified Sass, its 2022 champion, just days before the 2024 event of the 1,000-mile race, amid allegations that he sexually assaulted multiple women.

Sass, 44, denied the allegations, which were contained in a Nov. 2 letter to the Iditarod and other top sled dog races from Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates Alaska.

Two alleged victims also told Alaska Public Media, Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica that Sass forced them to have sex during consensual sex more than a decade ago.

It wasn’t until four months after the letter hit race boards, in late February, that the Iditarod announced Sass’ disqualification. The disqualification also came a week after newsrooms first asked the Iditarod about the allegations.

In identical posts Wednesday on the Instagram and Facebook pages for his Wild and Free kennel, Sass announced he was “stepping away” from competitive dog mushing and social media to focus on “new adventures.”

“As the journey of my life continues, it brings changes. Big change, one that I didn’t see coming, but one that I have to face, as I have with all other challenges throughout my life…. forward and with a positive attitude,” the ad said.

Sass did not immediately respond to an email, Facebook message or text search comment.

Sass is a four-time Yukon Quest sled dog race champion, winning in 2015, 2019, 2020 and 2024.

He won the 2022 Iditarod after riding through a snowstorm to reach the finish line in Nome just over an hour ahead of fellow Iditarod veteran Dallas Seavey, who won his sixth Iditarod championship in 2024 , setting an all-time record.