Dog Crashes Olympic Cross-Country Ski Race, Steals Show With Photo-Finish Sprint

Stop the presses — I have a new favorite Winter Olympian. And unlike the rest of you, it's not Jutta Leerdam.

No, this one is of the canine variety.

During the women's cross-country team sprint qualifying race in Lago di Tesero, Italy, a 2-year-old Czech wolfhound named Nazgul broke out of his enclosure, sprinted onto the course and decided he, too, would like a shot at Olympic glory.

NBC's cameras captured Nazgul trotting across the finish line behind Croatian skier Tena Hadzic, prompting one announcer to observe, "The biggest cheer of the day, and it's not for any of the skiers so far," while another joked, "Anybody lost their dog?" and noted, "it's a fairly nice mutt there, not hindering anybody's progress. One of those moments you have to laugh about."

While the crowd and the announcers were delighted by Nasgul, he managed to give Hadzic a bit of a scare.

"I was like, 'Am I hallucinating?" Hadzic said. "I don't know what I should do, because maybe he could attack me, bite me."

Fortunately, this good boy had no interest in attacking or biting anyone.

Omega — the official timing sponsor — even gave the pup his own photo-finish moment when he was automatically recorded by its Scan'O'Vision ULTIMATE camera.

Race officials eventually caught up with Nazgul and returned him unharmed to his home at a nearby bed-and-breakfast.

As for why he joined the race in the first place?

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

The owner described him as "stubborn, but very sweet."

Can we get this guy an interview with Olympic correspondent Snoop Dogg? The dog and the Doggfather. Give the people what they want, NBC!

A 2-year-old Czech wolfhound named Nazgul crashed the cross-country ski event at the Winter Olympics.

(Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP via Getty Images)

Nazgul's surprise appearance didn't appear to affect medal contenders, since it happened during the qualifying round. But Hadzic admitted her initial reaction likely 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." 

See, my problem is that I would have forgotten about the race altogether. My sole mission would be to pet the doggo.

Sweden eventually took gold in the final, but let's be honest: the only competitor anyone will remember from this qualifying round is the furry unregistered one with four legs.

Air Bud walked so Nazgul could ski.