The Winter Olympics dog is the breakout star of the games: 'Someone get him a medal'

An extra four-legged friend gatecrashed the Winter Olympics women's team sprint cross-country qualifying race in Tesero on Wednesday.

The two-year-old Czechoslovakian wolfdog named Nazgul might not have had the sporting credentials, but that didn't stop the dog, which managed to find its way onto the stadium course during qualifying.

As the athletes were on the finishing straight, the pooch decided to join the race - much to the delight of spectators who could be heard cheering the unexpected visitor on.

After a few sniffs, the dog then crossed the finish line ahead of the skiiers, an amusing moment that was captured by photographers before officials managed to get a hold of the hound.

Dog gatecrashes team cross country to steal show at Winter Olympics Eurosport, Olympic Winter Games

When asked about canine cameo, Jonna Sundling of Sweden, who went on to win gold with teammate Maja Dahlqvist said, "It was so fun. I like dogs, we have a dog at home."

"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," she added.

Although Nadja Kaelin of Switzerland, who won 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."

Nazgul has quickly become quite the social media sensation as clips of the doggo have gone viral with millions of views, and there have been a lot of hilarious reactions, too.

One clip of the moment has almost 1 million views on X/Twitter.

Another wrote: "Someone get him a medal."

"I still cannot get over the Wolfdog crossing the finish line," one person said.

A second person said, "This is a real photo from the Winter Olympics," with an edited image of Nazgul's photo finish.

"When you lie on your resume and still get the job," a third person posted.

Nazgul’s owner has since commented on their pet pooch's surprise Winter Olympics debut.

“He was crying this morning more than normal because he was seeing us leaving – and I think he just wanted to follow us,” the owner told NPR. “He always looks for people.”

Elsewhere from Indy100, Who is Eileen Gu? The divisive breakout star of the Winter Olympics, and Olympic Village forced to restock condoms as athletes wipe out supply.

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