Surprise four-legged Olympic competitor wows cross-country fans

LAGO DI TESERO, ITALY — A local dog made a bid for Olympic glory Wednesday morning, breaking out of his doghouse and onto the homestretch of the cross-country ski course in the middle of a race.

Two-year-old Nazgul was quickly collared by race officials and returned unharmed to his home at a nearby bed-and-breakfast.

But not before his genial presence lit up television sets and social media channels around the world — even if he perplexed some of the athletes who encountered him.

“I was like, ‘Am I hallucinating?” said Tena Hadzic, a 21-year-old Croatian skier who encountered the dog on her trip down the home stretch. “I don’t know what I should do, because maybe he could attack me, bite me.”

Race organizers did not make Nazgul available for questions after his capture.

But his owners are related to an event official, who connected them with NPR for a brief interview while they were driving to watch an Olympic biathlon race at another venue.

“He was crying this morning more than normal because he was seeing us leaving — and I think he just wanted to follow us,” said the owner, who was granted anonymity because of the intense media scrutiny of Nazgul’s escape. “He always looks for people.”

Nazgul is a “stubborn, but very sweet” Czechoslovakian Wolfdog, the owner said.

Nazgul’s saunter down the homestretch didn’t appear to have a significant impact on the cross-country team sprint: A preliminary qualifying round was unfolding at the time, and the top medal contenders had already finished.

But Hadzic, the Croatian, said her initial reaction likely did cost her “some seconds.”

“It’s not that big deal, because I’m not fighting for medals or anything big,” she said. “But if that happened in the finals, it could really cost someone the medals, or a really good result.”