(NewsNation) — A dog made its Olympic debut Wednesday when it unexpectedly showed up during the women’s cross-country team sprint qualifying race at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.
As the skiers raced down the hill, the large dog was seen running alongside the athletes and even crossed the finish line.
“The biggest cheer of the day and it’s not for any of the skiers so far,” an announcer remarks in a video of the pup shared by NBC Olympics on social media.
The dog, named “Nazgul” in an apparent reference to “The Lord of the Rings” films, had slipped away from its owner while they were on a walk nearby, officials said.
In an interview with NPR, the dog’s owner described Nazgul, identified by multiple outlets as a Czechoslovakian wolfdog, as “stubborn, but very sweet.”
Tena Hadzic, a 21-year-old Croatian skier, told NPR that her initial reaction to the dog likely cost her “some seconds.”
“It’s not that big a deal, because I’m not fighting for medals or anything big,” Hadzic said. “But if that happened in the finals, it could really cost someone the medals, or a really good result.”
