Runaway dog invades Winter Olympics event to steal show after escaping | Other | Sport

The animal then spotted two passing skiers, prompting it to chase after them as they completed the race. Greek athlete Konstantina Charalampidou, who shared her final few metres with the four-legged intruder, said: “Luckily, he was very well-behaved.

“He followed the camera on the finishing straight, was cute, and thankfully didn’t disrupt the race. It was funny. He made me forget about the race, because it wasn’t good. Thanks to him, I’m famous now, so I have to thank him.”

Leading qualifier Jonna Sundling from Sweden remarked she thought “it was cute”, whilst Norway’s Astrid Oyre Slind, who placed fifth, quipped: “A dog is my least problem, a Swede is my biggest.”

Croatia’s Tena Hadzic took a more wary view of the incident, confessing she worried it might attack her. “At first I thought it was a wolf, and that I was hallucinating because of the strenuous race,” she said.

“It was extremely large, and as I ran past it, I was afraid it might bite me. The fact that he even made it onto the track isn’t good. For me, it’s not a big deal since I’m not competing for a medal. But if that had happened in the final, where medals are at stake, it could have been dangerous.”

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The dog’s owner subsequently stepped forward, disclosing that his name is Nazgul and that he had bolted from their property. “He just disappeared, ran away from home,” he informed Norwegian publication VG.

“He is a very kind dog. Very stubborn, very sweet and very social. He always seeks contact with people.”