Dog becomes viral star after gatecrashing Olympics: 'I hope he wins'

A women's team sprint cross-country race in Tesero was gatecrashed on Wednesday by a highly enthusiastic husky, lacking official credentials, whose impromptu performance delighted spectators.

The dog wandered onto the stadium course in Tesero during qualifying, spotting athletes on the finishing straight and deciding to join. It then sniffed around before racing across the line ahead of the skiers, to wild cheers from a crowd entertained by the unexpected addition.

Jonna Sundling of Sweden, who went on to win gold with teammate Maja Dahlqvist, found the incident "so fun," adding: "I like dogs, we have a dog at home.

The dog has since become a viral star with clips of the pooch racking up millions of views online.

When it came to the finish line I was like, 'Okay we have a new member.' He or she wanted to go through the mixed zone as well, so it was fun," referring to the area where competitors speak to the media.

Not all racers agreed. Nadja Kaelin of Switzerland, who secured the silver medal, admitted: "I was cooling down on the bike, and I saw the dog and I was like, 'That’s crazy' and I was just happy I wasn't skiing next to the dog because I'm a bit afraid of dogs. I was happy I was already at the finish."

Officials eventually got hold of the tail-wagging interloper, but not before timekeepers preparing for a photo-finish in the race captured an image of the dog crossing the line.