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■ Sled dog racing
Racers rescued from blizzard
Military aircraft rescued two people on Monday and planned to airlift two other competitors who had been trapped in a mountain blizzard during the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race. Teams competing in the 1,600km Yukon Quest from Fairbanks, Alaska, to Whitehorse, Yukon, were attempting to cross Eagle Summit northeast of Fairbanks when a blizzard struck late on Sunday. "Once you were up there, there was no going back it was like being a sandstorm. The snow was pelting me and the dogs so hard you couldn't even look in to it," said Regina Wycoff, a racer who made it through the storm. A helicopter flew two mushers and their dog teams to a race checkpoint in good condition and was expected to try to airlift the remaining two teams, according to race officials. The trapped racers included a Canadian, two Alaskans and a Japanese national living in Alaska.

■ Hockey
Gretzky sidesteps questions
Wayne Gretzky sidestepped questions about the gambling investigation that has engulfed him and his wife, and insisted Monday he won't distract the Canadian Olympic team despite a scandal that has shaken the National Hockey League. Gretzky spoke for just more than four minutes in a news conference ended by a Canadian hockey federation official when the NHL great repeatedly was asked about the integrity of the game. "That's not for me to talk about," Gretzky said. Gretzky's shoulders sagged at one point, and he reacted with a nervous laugh a couple of times. Canadian federation official Andre Brin interrupted five times to say Gretzky would take only game-related questions. "There's no story about me, that's what I keep trying to tell you. I'm not involved," Gretzky said.

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