The sudden appearance of a dog (and a very big Czechoslovakian Wolfdog) near the finish line of a ski circuit during qualifying for the women's team sprint will be remembered as a cute anecdote from the games: the dog is honestly beautiful, was playful, and didn't cause any trouble except for a mild scare to skier Tena Hadzic and some seconds on her record.
<social>https://x.com/Puppieslover/status/2024139575891755024</social>
However, the sudden appearance of the dog could have had much more serious consequences. If Nazgul (that's his name) had jumped in the track only a few seconds earlier, or if he had jumped into the skiers, a serious incident could have happened.
Perhaps that's why the official Olympic Games account on X decided to delete a post about the dog minutes after it happened. The incident was amusing and everybody fell in love with Nazgul, but it was still a big security oversight from the Games' parts...
"Not that big deal, because I'm not fighting for medals or anything big, but if that happened in the finals, it could really cost someone the medals, or a really good result", said Hadzic, the 21-year-old Croatian skier who saw the dog and was momentarily scared that he would attack him. He looks like a wolf, after all.
As outlet NPR found out, the dog owners are relatives of an event official, and followed them to the site. EFE added that the owner is a former skier living nearby, and said that Nazgul isn't dangerous.