Local dog goes for gold as he hits Olympic sprint

A dog with great enthusiasm but no credentials crashed a women’s team sprint cross-country race at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, producing an impromptu performance that had spectators howling with joy.

The dog wandered onto the stadium course in Tesero, northern Italy, during the qualifying event, spotted a few athletes on the straight and decided to get in on the action.

The dog sniffed around for a while before racing across the line in front of the skiers to loud cheers from the crowd, clearly entertained by the unexpected addition to the field.

“It was so much fun. I love dogs, we have a dog at home,” said Jonna Sundling of Sweden, who won gold with teammate Maja Dahlqvist.

“When it came to the finish, I thought, ‘Okay, we have a new member.’ He or she also wanted to go through the mixed zone, so it was fun,” she added, referring to the area where competitors speak to the media.

Not all racers agreed.

“I was cooling down on the bike, and I saw the dog and I thought, ‘That’s crazy,’ and I was just happy that I wasn’t skiing next to the dog, because I’m a bit afraid of dogs. I was happy that I was already at the finish,” said Nadja Kälin from Switzerland.

The Swiss skier won the silver medal in the final race together with teammate Nadine Fähndrich.

Officials were eventually able to catch the wagging intruder, but not before timekeepers prepared for a photo finish in the race and captured an image of the dog crossing the line.

The two-year-old dog, named Nazgul, is a “stubborn, but very sweet” Czechoslovakian wolfdog, his owner told US news organization NPR.

Nazgul lives in a bed-and-breakfast near the golf course.

“He cried more than usual this morning because he saw us leaving – and I think he just wanted to follow us.”

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