‘What on earth?’ Local dog’s unexpected Olympic cameo after running away from home

Tesero, Italy: A surprise participant in the Milano Cortina 2026 action had four legs and zero concern for race times.

As elite cross-country skiers pushed to the finish in the women’s team sprint heats on Wednesday (overnight AEDT), a dog wandered onto the course and ran with athletes down the straightaway.

Racers stayed focused as spectators cheered on the canine intruder before it crossed the finish line and was restrained by venue officials.

Nazgul, who is a two-year-old Czechoslovakian wolfdog, had slipped away from a local owner while out on a nearby walk, officials later said.

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“He just disappeared, ran away from home. He is a very kind dog. Very stubborn, very sweet and very social. He always seeks contact with people. He doesn’t hurt people,” Nazgul’s owners told Norwegian newspaper VG.

They told NPR that Nazgul was likely looking for human company after they had left their home – a nearby hotel in Tesero – for the day.

“He was crying this morning more than normal because he was seeing us leaving – and I think he just wanted to follow us,” they said.

Nazgul’s name is derived from a group of wraiths in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. After crossing the finish line, he made a beeline for Argentina’s Nahiara Diaz Gonzalez.

A two-year-old Czechoslovakian wolfdog broke past security and finished 20th in the women’s cross-country skiing team sprint qualifier. Team Australia finished 18th.Credit: AP

Nazgul’s unexpected Olympic bid delighted observers but not every athlete was happy about it.Credit: AP

Croatia’s Tena Hadzic mistook Nazgul for a wolf at first and was afraid he would bite her, but his owners say he is friendly and harmless.Credit: AP

“I thought, ‘What on earth is a dog doing here?’,” Gonzalez said.

Reactions to his appearance were mixed. Sweden’s gold medallist Jonna Sundling thought Nazgul was “cute” and his cameo was “so fun”.

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“I like dogs,” said Sundling, who went on to win in the finals with teammate Maja Dahlqvist. “When it came to the finish line, I was like, ‘OK we have a new member’.”

Norway’s Astrid Oyre Slind, who finished fifth, took no issue with Nazgul. She said: “A dog is my least problem, a Swede is my biggest.”

But Croatia’s Tena Hadzic was the athlete being chased by a sprinting Nazgul during the qualifier, and she formed a different view.

“At first I thought it was a wolf, and that I was hallucinating because of the strenuous race,” Hadzic said.

“It was extremely large, and as I ran past it, I was afraid it might bite me. It’s not a big deal since I’m not competing for a medal. But if that had happened in the final, where medals are at stake, it could have been dangerous.”

Nazgul was 20th across the line, human or canine, and finished just in front of Team Ukraine, triggering Omega’s official finishing-line camera in the process. Australia’s Rosie Fordham and Phoebe Cridland placed 18th in the qualification rankings.

With AP

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