The sad news of Sally O’Sullivan Bair passing has reached IFSS. Sally, a dedicated volunteer of IFSS served as Secretary General from 1999 to 2012.
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Sally was born January 8, 1942, in Rochester, Minnesota. Sally died on February 10, 2026, after a short illness, at the age of 84.
Sally’s passion and joy was sled dog sports, which she was introduced to in Alaska. She was active in sled dog racing for 25 years; winning medals at the local level in many sprint sled dog races. She general kept a kennel of ten to twelve dogs, to which she was devoted. They were her “children,” as she liked to tell people: “They’re always glad to see you, and they don’t have to go to college.” For the sake of her parents, she liked to add that she had her own police force right in her back yard! She loved regaling her family with anecdotes of the triumphs and tribulations of her hobby and would sometimes bring a litter of six-week-old puppies to her parents’ home for a weekend of socialization.
While living in Duluth, Minnesota, after retiring from teaching, Sally became a board member of the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon in Duluth. She served as its secretary and as the turn-around checkpoint chief timer at Trail Center for several years, a job she thoroughly enjoyed.
Sally will be deeply missed by the mushing community and IFSS.
Sincerely
Helen Lundberg
IFSS President
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Updated of Helen Lundberg 30 September 2026
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AFSS Austrian Federation of Sleddog Sports upgraded to voting member
I am very pleased to announce that IFSS members voted yes and thus approve the upgrade of AFSS Austrian Federation of Sleddog Sports from Provisional membership to a Voting National Member.
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IFSS Membership Committee has also reviewed and supports the application from AFSS.
Welcome to AFSS Austrian Federation of Sleddog Sports as a Voting National Member of IFSS!
Sincerely
Helen Lundberg
IFSS President
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Published of Helen Lundberg 23 August 2026
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IFSS to keep suspension of Russian athletes
IFSS Council has decided that the current suspension of athletes representing Russia from participating in IFSS international competitions, including the World Cup, will remain in place until further notice.
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IFSS Council has decided that the current suspension of athletes representing Russia from participating in IFSS international competitions, including the World Cup, will remain in place until further notice.
Sincerely
Helen Lundberg
IFSS President
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Published of Helen Lundberg 17 August 2026
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Bengt Pontén, Sweden new Race Marshal all classes
Today, I am very glad to announce that council approved Bengt Pontén, Sweden as IFSS Race Marshal, all classes.
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Today, I am very glad to announce that council approved Bengt Pontén, Sweden as IFSS Race Marshal, all classes.
It is an ongoing work within IFSS to train judges on all continents and some of them will also be approved as Race Marshals.
Congratulations Bengt to your new position with IFSS.
On behalf of IFSS Council
Helen Lundberg
IFSS President
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Updated of Kjell Ek 03 July 2026
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New people on the board and council
At the IFSS General Assembly June 14th 2026 the members elected Konrad Jakob, Chile to serve as Vice President Sport for four years. Konrad will succeed Ninni Hjortvall who held the position since 2022.
Zuzana Orság, Slovakia was re-elected as Vice President Economy for another four-year term.
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Continental directors for the time of 2026 to 2028 will be:
Europe: Alena Zbožínková re-elected to continue for two more years.
North America: Sylvain Lefebvre re-elected to continue two more years.
Latin America: Estefanía Famá elected to serve for two years succeeding Konrad Jakob who was elected Vice President Sport.
Oceania: Zahra Goldsmith elected to serve for two years, succeeding Gabriele Altermann.
On behalf of IFSS Council I want to thank all officers who has served and welcome new members on the Executive Board and in the Council.
IFSS Council 2026-2028
President: Helen Lundberg
Vice President Economy: Zuzana Orság
Vice President Development: Agata Aleksandra Zaremba
Vice President Sport: Konrad Jakob
Executive Director: Sylvain Lefebvre
Continental Director Europe: Alena Zbožínková
Continental Director Oceania: Zahra Goldsmith
Continental Director Latin America: Estefanía Famá
Continental Director North America: Sylvain Lefebvre
Athletes Representative: TBA
Sincerely Helen Lundberg
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Published of Helen Lundberg 17 June 2026
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This Wednesday, a system update will be carried out on the website and some disruptions may occur. All logins to sleddogsport.net are disabled until the system restore
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As you’ve probably noticed, our website has been down countless times recently, and we’ve been troubleshooting the issue nonstop.
Among other things, a backup function has been causing problems, resulting in our web hosting storage limit being exceeded.
We will now work with the web host’s technicians to restore the website to ensure that it functions properly going forward.
We hope you’ll bear with us.
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Published of Kjell Ek 15 June 2026
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