The World’s Greatest Athletes
Sled dogs are arguably the greatest endurance athletes on the planet. In Dog Power, we share with you incredible footage of well conditioned sled dogs running at their finest. We will show you that these are happy dogs who love what they are doing. But are they really they world’s greatest endurance athletes? We let Associate Dean of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Professional Veterinary Medicine Program Dr. Arleigh J. Reynolds, a two-time World Champion musher who is the leading expert on the endurance of sled dogs, give you the answer.
Dr. Arleigh Reynolds Winning the ONAC
Dr. Reynolds points to recent studies involving the measurement of the V02 max (the amount of oxygen an athlete is capable of taking in) of the world’s best conditioned sled dogs. While Norwegian cyclist Oskar Svendsen is thought to have recorded the highest VO2 max of 97.5 mL/(kg·min), a “sensational” value in itself, sprint sled dogs have VO2 max values as high as 240 mL/(kg·min).