A four-legged surprise guest briefly joined the event 2026 Winter Olympics during the women’s cross country team qualifying race on Wednesday, February 18 – and quickly became the unofficial star of the event.
As the athletes from Croatia and Australia crossed the finish line, a dog suddenly wandered onto the field. The child paused to look at the camera before apparently seeing the skaters and running towards the finish line behind them. (Hey, even dogs can have Olympic dreams.)
A very handsome boy crosses the finish line.
Credit: Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP via Getty Images
“Did someone lose their dog?” announcers on the course joked, according to Peopleit reports. “It’s a nice courtesy mutt there, not hindering anyone’s progress. One of those times you have to laugh.” They added that it would be better if the disruption happened during qualifying rather than later heats.
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The Italian dog, later identified as Nazgul, did not interfere with the competitors. After the athletes skied to exhaustion, the baby strolled around to sniff a few athletes before heading to the post-finish area, where Olympic volunteers greeted him with pets and belly rubs.
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This time became more official thanks to Omega SA, the official timekeeper of the Games. His Scan’O’Vision ULTIMATE finish camera automatically captured the dog crossing the line, giving the unlikely competitor his Olympic-style finish.
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According to NPRA 2-year-old Czechoslovakian wolfdog named Nazgul lives with his humans at a nearby bed and breakfast. She is described as “stubborn, but very sweet.” Race organizers did not make Nazgul available for questions after his arrest, NPR noted — but based on his form, he may have a future in racing events.
Before the dogs came, Sweden’s Jonna Sundling and Maja Dahlqvist posted the fastest qualifying time at 6:29.94. In the final, Sweden won the goldwhile Switzerland and Germany got silver and bronze. Team USA’s Jessie Diggins and Julia Kern improved from seventh in qualifying to fifth overall.
As for the mysterious dog, no owner appeared immediately – but in one short race, he ran with the best in the world.
