Wolfdog Nazgul interrupts Olympic cross-country sprint

A local dog made a surprise appearance during the women’s cross-country free sprint qualification at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, playfully chasing athletes and a remote-controlled broadcast camera before running across the finish line and being caught by officials.

The canine was a two-year-old Czechoslovakian wolfdog named Nazgul who had escaped from a nearby home on February 18. He was quickly wrangled by local officials without harm and taken back to his home at a nearby bed-and-breakfast. “He was crying this morning more than normal because he was seeing us leaving—and I think he just wanted to follow us,” Nazgul’s owner said, adding that he “always looks for people” and is “stubborn, but very sweet.”

“I was like, ‘Am I hallucinating?’” said Tena Hadzic, a 21-year-old Croatian skier who shared the track with the dog. Clips of Nazgul running alongside skiers and chasing the camera spread online, appearing on Bluesky, Reddit, Twitter, YouTube and other platforms.

Italy

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