Sports

A Juneau-born athlete is headed to Italy next month to represent Team USA’s biathlon team in the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. 

Last month, 24-year-old Maxime Germain made the team for the event that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. 

This week, Germain spoke to KTOO from Germany, where he’s racing in the Biathlon World Cup. He said he’s very excited to represent Alaska, as well as the U.S., in the Olympic Winter Games. 

“There are a lot of opportunities, especially (because) our sport has never had a medal,” he said. “As a team, we’re very excited, and I’m very excited to get that opportunity this year.”

Germain was born in Juneau in 2001, but he says his family moved away after about a year. Then, after living in Hawaii and France, he returned to Juneau for another year to attend kindergarten at Sayéik: Gastineau Community School. 

“I didn’t ski when I was a little kid in Juneau because there was no snow and also I was too young,” he said. “But it made me appreciate the wild as well. I like training in the mountains and open areas like Alaska.”

He spent most of his youth in France, but returned to Alaska when he was a teenager, where he graduated from West Anchorage High School in 2019. During his time in Anchorage, he trained with the Anchorage Biathlon Club and raced for the APU Nordic Ski Center. 

“Maxime has worked really hard throughout the off season, improving his mental game and bringing an overall level up to the World Cup this year,” said Lowell Bailey, U.S. Biathlon High Performance Director, in a press release. “This showed right away at the first World Cup in Ostersund, where he proved he can be among the world’s fastest and best biathletes. Maxime will be a great addition to the U.S. Olympic team!”

Germain said he’s grateful for his time in Alaska. He said living and training in the state was pivotal for his career. He pointed to other successful skiers that have come out of the state, like Gus Schumacher, Luke Jager and Zanden McMullen.

“The Alaskan community in Nordic is awesome. Like, we’re one of the highest producers of high-end athletes in the country, especially in Nordic,” he said. 

The 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy begin on Feb. 6. 

Many retirees tend to spend their leisure time volunteering, reading books, or playing pickleball. But, 69-year-old Jack “Jack Hammer” Duckworth spent his Saturday evening in a boxing ring at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall, facing an opponent half his age. He was there for the AK Beatdown’s 40th fight night in Juneau.

Duckworth was the oldest of 22 male and female boxers and MMA fighters between ages 16 and 69 who participated in the fight night – like Meg “Thrilla from Manila” Miranda, William “The Wolf Man” Atlas and Jamie “The Flat Liner” LaChester. AK Beatdown is a Juneau-based fighting league that hosts family-friendly fight nights that feature local and Alaska fighters. 

Duckworth ultimately got knocked down in the second round, but he said he still had fun. 

“I love it,” he said. “I started doing Taekwondo at 25, so I’ve been teaching for all these years and doing the boxing, and I totally support it.”

And, he wasn’t the only Duckworth fighting. His son and grandson were also in the ring that night. The family traveled from Ketchikan to partake in the event. He said fighting is the Duckworth way. 

“That’s why I’m doing it, just so we could all be on the same card,” he said.  

Professional fight nights like these have taken place in Juneau since at least the late ‘90s under different organizers. Cyndi Isaak is the current owner of AK Beatdown. The show took a five-year hiatus but returned last year. Now, Isaak said it’s back and better than ever. 

“It’s definitely got a fan base. It’s had the same following that comes all the time,” she said. “It’s just all around a healthy sport. I think the community loves UFC, and so it’s just kind of carried through.”

Saturday night’s show was completely sold out of its more than 450 tickets. In just one day, Isaak’s crew transformed the empty ballroom into a fighting arena. Dozens of tables and hundreds of chairs surrounded a professional fighting ring in the center of the room. 

“We really try to be super professional,” she said. “We have medics here. We have trained corner coaches. Our judges have been the same judges from day one, so it’s very consistent. We have the referees.”

Spectator Brian McFadden sat at one of the tables. He’s fought in previous fight nights, but on Saturday, he was there to celebrate his 34th birthday, alongside his children and family. 

“This is so far my favorite beatdown, since I don’t have to fight in it, and I just get to enjoy the livelihood and the energy,” he said.

McFadden said the event offers something for fighters to work and train for in Juneau,  especially during cold winters. 

“I think it’s a great asset to the fighting community,” he said. “It gives people in the community the ability to meet up every few months and do this for real.”

Isaak, the event’s organizer, said more events are planned for next year, and she’s excited to see support expand in Juneau. 

Juneau’s Parks and Recreation department began hosting pick-up pickleball three days a week at the Floyd Dryden gymnasium this fall. In the last decade, new players across the country — especially seniors — have been picking up the sport. 

And as Juneau’s population continues to grow older, the city says interest in pickleball is growing with them. 

The patter of pickleballs and squeak of sneakers filled the Floyd Dryden campus gymnasium in the Mendenhall Valley last Wednesday afternoon. The game looks sort of like tennis, but with a lower net and a plastic ball that sails through the wind.

Fred Hiltner waited for his turn to hop into a game. The City and Borough of Juneau’s Parks and Recreation department began hosting $5 pickup pickleball games this fall. Residents can drop in to play, to have fun, make new friends and stay active. 

Hiltner said he has been playing pickleball outdoors for a year and a half in Juneau and was excited when the city began offering it indoors and out of the elements.

“At first I thought it seemed like kind of a silly game, and a friend tried to get me to play, and I thought, ‘I don’t think so,’” he said. “Then I gave it a try, and I just love it. It’s really a fun game that anybody can play, and great exercise.”

Hiltner is retired. He said he was drawn to the social aspect of the sport and how easy it is to learn at any age. 

“A lot of people who might not be getting out — old people like me — have a great opportunity to get out and play together,” he said. 

Pickleball has become one of the fastest-growing sports in the country. It’s particularly popular with people over age 65, who make up a large part of Juneau’s population.

“Juneau is an aging community, and pickleball has been growing,” said Lauren Verrelli, the deputy director of the Parks and Rec department. “I’ve been with Parks and Rec for almost 10 years now, and it has just been exploding over the past 10 years.”

She says the city began hosting the sport after people asked for pickup games. About 15 to 20 people attend each session. 

A 2023 report by the Juneau Economic Development Council found that for the first time, the over-60 population in Juneau outnumbers the under-20 population. And Juneau’s older population is only expected to grow in the coming decades, according to population estimates released by the state’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development earlier this year.

Verrelli said the goal is to create more chances for people of all ages to stay active throughout the winter. 

“I think that’s what we’re here for, like all of our parks and recreation facilities, for people to get in and have a place to recreate in the winter – in the dark, cold months,” she said. 

Dan Kromarek is 88 years old and he’s taking advantage of the opportunity. On Wednesday, he teamed up with Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior Elliot Welch, who won the boys singles state tennis title this year. 

Back in the day, Kromarek used to do judo and martial arts, but started playing pickleball during the pandemic to keep himself active after a surgery. He’s been hooked since. 

“It’s just an easy exercise that keeps you interested,” he said. “You got to have something to keep you interested, rather than do a solo thing where it’s pretty hard to get out and do stuff on your own.”

Welch runs the pickleball program for Parks and Rec. 

“To get paid and to play — that’s fun,” he said. 

Verrelli said the department planned to expand the program to evenings, too, but now that’s on hold as the city faces potential budget cuts following this year’s local election.

She said the city still plans to renovate the outdoor tennis courts at Floyd Dryden next summer to include two dedicated pickleball courts. A long-term goal is to create even more pickleball courts at Jackie Renninger Park in the Valley in the coming years.

Listen:

The crowd erupted in cheers as Juneau’s high school football team made a tackle on the soggy turf field in Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park on Saturday afternoon. 

The Crimson Bears were playing against last year’s state champions, Anchorage’s Dimond High School. Spectators in rain jackets packed the stands and others stood out in the weather, lining the track with umbrellas.

Cheerleaders got a break from the rain when they donned white cowboy hats between routines. It was a classic Crimson Bears game. But there were some unfamiliar faces. 

A team of five reporters and cameramen from national TV network NBC were chasing the action on the field with big cameras covered in plastic bags. 

The crew flew in to catch a very rainy game. It may end up part of a feature the network plans to air on the day of the most-watched sporting event in the United States – the Super Bowl. 

Ken Brown is a middle school teacher and wrestling coach. He was standing with a few other teachers on the track in the rain. He said the turnout is about the same as it usually is, TV cameras or not.

“It’s just a big community atmosphere,” Brown said.

Brown comes to games because he likes to see his former wrestlers play, and he said it makes sense that NBC would choose Juneau as one of the games they plan to feature. 

“Down here we’re in the middle of a rainforest,” he said. “It’s really wild.”

Longtime NFL sports reporter Peter King stood under a giant inflatable Crimson Bear at one end of the field. He had one eye on the game as he spoke. 

He covered the NFL for four decades. He retired last year, but pitched a story to NBC that found him battling the driving rain in Juneau.

“I suggested the story, ‘Let’s go out and look at five or six high school football teams across the United States, and let’s take the temperature of why high school football matters,’” he said.

King’s team already visited the Winnebago reservation in Nebraska. He said he wanted to go to far-flung places: the team initially planned to go to Hawaii, to a school where the football field has a view of the Pacific Ocean.

“And I said, ‘How great. But it just felt a little bit too pretty,’” King said.

The weather in Juneau is a different story. 

“There are some times when it stops raining, and you say, ‘Wow, it was just raining five minutes ago, and then it stopped raining, and now it’s pouring again,’” he said. “And I say, ‘This is some interesting weather you have here.’”

But he was pleased with it. He said the rainy day only makes the footage more real —and more reflective of what makes Juneau special. 

“This whole thing is awesome, I love it,” King said. “I’m so happy we chose Juneau. And the kids — you know, we’re going to do some interviews with the players, and I was in their locker room before the game. They’re marvelous. They’re absolutely marvelous.”

King said he saw the Crimson Bears’ star player helping his teammates tape up their ankles. 

Juneau’s sense of community and ruggedness is what King’s looking for in the football teams he visits, including a girls flag football game in Alabama. 

Super Bowl LX will take place Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, California. As for Saturday’s game, the Crimson Bears narrowly beat Dimond High, 15-14. 

Members of the Juneau Off-Road Association have been volunteering their weekends this summer to construct the capital city’s first off-road vehicle park.  

Just beyond Sunshine Cove off Glacier Highway, Stephen Mattson was hard at work clearing brush in the beaming sun on Saturday afternoon.

“We’re out clearing one of the trails — basically involves a lot of bushwhacking,” he said. 

Mattson is the vice president of the Juneau Off-Road Association. He and a handful of volunteers are working on the first phase of construction. 

Off-roading is a thrill-inducing recreational activity that gained popularity during the 1990s. It involves riding motorized vehicles like Jeeps or dirtbikes on unpaved trails or terrain. But, local enthusiasts say there aren’t many places for them to get their thrills — legally, at least — in Juneau.

The new project in Juneau is a collaboration with the City and Borough of Juneau’s Parks and Recreation and Trail Mix. Right now, they’re constructing the first five miles of an interactive trail system specifically for off-road vehicles, like Jeeps, side-by-sides, quads and dirt bikes. 

“It’s very special,” he said. “It’s really been a combined or collaborative effort between all these different associations and people groups for this. And so it’s neat to see that level of participation in the community and that level of willingness to see this thing come to fruition.”

The city’s planning commission approved development of the site just past the 35-mile marker more than two years ago. It’s on roughly 175 acres of city land that was formerly a logging area in the 1950s and 1960s. The location was chosen in part because it’s far away from traffic and high-density residential areas. 

Mattson said he’s been off-roading since 2003, when he bought his first Jeep. Ever since then, he can’t get enough of the sport or the community of riders in Juneau. 

“The sense of accomplishment is really neat, and then, of course, the sense of camaraderie with everyone else you get stuck out there, and they won’t leave you hanging,” he said. “There’s always someone who can throw a winch at you or laugh at you, you know, while you’re there, pulling you off a rock.”

Shelly Lager,  another member of the Juneau Off-Road Association, cooked cheeseburgers for the volunteers. She says the park has been a long time coming. 

“As of now, we just don’t have a place,” she said. “They’ve been trying for decades to try to provide a place legally for people to ride.”

Lager is also a Jeep rider. And, like Mattson, she grew up off-roading in Juneau back when there were more places people could legally ride. But, over the years, those were closed off or shut down. She and her husband have resorted to traveling to places like Haines or the Yukon to go adventuring. 

“I mean, it’s just the passion of being able to go somewhere, do something that you’re passionate about,” she said. “With this, it’s a little different than skiing, but I think it’s just the same thrill kind of thing.”

The park is scheduled to open for day-use once the first phase of construction is complete. But when that will happen depends on how much volunteer support the project receives.

Lager said the group hopes to expand the trails in the coming years, along with adding a test track area and a two-lane mud racing pit. She said the goal is to provide a space for existing riders to get their fill, and invite new people to try out the sport. 

Among the 22 mushers who have signed up so far for the 2026 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is a longtime backer competing under modified rules.

Norwegian businessman Kjell Inge Røkke’s entry is drawing mixed feelings from the dog mushing community.

“My initial reaction was a billionaire just bought his way into this race,” six-time Iditarod finisher Mille Porsild said.

Companies and subsidiaries owned by Røkke have sponsored the Iditarod since 2018. Røkke has even mushed sections of the trail with dogs trained by 2020 champion Thomas Waerner.

The Iditarod’s new Expedition Program will allow Røkke to race with outside support – unlike other competitors. Porsild said the announcement, which was released at midnight on June 14, caught her by surprise.

“What is it he bought himself into? Where are the rules? What is this?” Porsild said.

In the announcement, the committee’s CEO, Rob Urbach, called the creation of its Expedition Program a “new chapter in Iditarod history.” He claimed it would enhance the sport’s “global visibility, financial sustainability, and cultural outreach.”

Røkke will receive a modified “Expedition Class Finisher’s Buckle” for finishing the race, but is ineligible to actually win.

A spokesperson for the Iditarod Trail Committee said in an email that Røkke’s exemptions from the rules “mostly pertains to no outside assistance.”

Røkke will also skip the requirement to qualify by competing in shorter races like the Yukon Quest. Porsild said that troubled her the most.

“Anybody is not going to go, you know, participate in the Olympics,” Porsild said. “He needs to qualify, like any other musher, and show that he can actually manage a team of 16 dogs.”

Saturday signups

At the June 28 sign-up event in Wasilla, 2024 and 2025 runner-up Matt Hall said Røkke’s name didn’t come up.

“It was a fun day, and that’s how it should have been. I take that as a really good thing, you know, that whatever the little initial drama over it was and et cetera, has kind of passed,” Hall said.

Hall said he was holding out for more information, like how many snowmachines may be running support for Røkke.

“This gentleman isn’t there to take the first-place prize,” Hall said. “We don’t even really understand if he’s gonna be listed officially as a position or just a finisher. It’s information I want to know closer to date so that I can plan accordingly.”

Nic Petit, an 11-time Iditarod finisher, said he hoped Røkke’s inclusion would benefit mushers at the back of the pack.

“I understand you can’t hold volunteers over forever, but the biggest problem is that they can’t keep vets there forever,” Petit said. “But if this guy’s gonna be traveling with his own vet crew, then it’d be great for his vet crew to sign on to helping the back of the packers not have to go home.”

In exchange for being exempted from the full rulebook, Røkke is adding $100,000 to next year’s race purse and pledging $10,000 each to 17 villages along the race’s route. He also halved the registration cost for mushers entering the race and sent some cash to Iditarod HQ too.

Røkke’s contributions only apply to next year’s race, unlike other multi-year sponsorship agreements the Iditarod has brokered. In an interview with the Anchorage Daily News, Urbach said he hoped the Expedition Program would attract the likes of Elon Musk, Richard Branson or Snoop Dogg. But Petit said he took issue with that model.

“That’s one of the things about this guy, he’s been around the dogs,” Petit said. “I don’t think that you should be allowed to just hop on a sled you lease because you got some money and you know nothing about what you’re doing.”

Røkke declined a request for an interview, but told Norwegian news outlet VG that planning for next year’s race had been underway for over three years.