A surprising spectator briefly disrupted competition at the Winter Olympics in Val di Fiemme on Tuesday, as a dog ran onto the cross-country skiing course.
The canine intruder raced down the slope toward the finish line, stopping to sniff along the route and narrowly avoiding contact with several athletes. “It’s a strange sight here on the course,” commented NRK broadcaster Jann Post as the incident unfolded.
“No one dares to grab the dog here, maybe someone should soon. It could have been a disaster,” said NRK expert Anders Aukland.
Swedish skier Maja Dahlqvist described the scene as “insane” in a quick comment to VG.
Croatian skier Tena Hadzic admitted to being startled by the unexpected appearance, recalling she had seen a similar video online days prior. “I thought ‘Okay, that’s funny,’” Hadzic told VG, “But honestly, in that moment it wasn’t so funny for me, because I didn’t know if it was going to attack me or what.” She added with a laugh, “Maybe it will be a quality video for Instagram.”
Hadzic confessed to feeling fear, explaining, “You can’t predict that a dog will be on the course, so yes, I was scared.”
Experts from the Oslo Hundeskole believe the animal was likely a husky-type breed. Hadzic further expressed her concern, questioning what the dog might do if it encountered a ski pole. “I don’t know, maybe it would get scared and… bite me. In that moment, I didn’t know what to do,” she said.
Argentine skier Nahiara Diaz Gonzalez described the scene as “strange,” adding, “I was going down, I saw it and tried to feel or see what it was going to do while I was going down, because I didn’t want to crash with the dog. But luckily it went well.” She jokingly added, “Everyone is talking about the dog, it’s famous now!”
The incident occurred during Olympic competition, adding an unexpected element to the day’s events.
