Watch Dog Cross Finish Line of Cross Country Skiing Race in 2026 Olympics Video

There was a surprise late entrant into the field during qualifying of the women's team sprint at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Wednesday.

A dog ran onto the course and nearly caught up to the skiiers from Team Croatia and Australia as they were finishing their qualifying run.

Per NPR's Nathaniel Herz, the dog is a Czechoslovakian wolfdog named Nazgul who belongs to an event official.

Nazgul made his way onto the track after breaking out of his doghouse, as his owners told Herz he was "crying this morning more than normal" because he didn't want them to leave.

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

According to Herz, the owner's name is being kept anonymous due to the "intense media scrutiny" around Nazgul's breakout and viral Olympic moment.

Tena Hadzic, a member of the Croatian team who found herself in a race with Nazgul, was a good sport about the whole thing.

"It's not that big deal, because I'm not fighting for medals or anything big," she said (h/t Herz). "But if that happened in the finals, it could really cost someone the medals, or a really good result."

Even though Nazgul may have caused chaos on the track, one can't stay mad at a dog who is just so excited to see people that he has to follow them no matter the circumstances.

The Australian and Croatian teams finished 18th and 19th in qualifying, respectively.