A Dog Competes in Olympic Cross-country Skiing

The eyes of the world were drawn to an Olympic preliminary qualifying round in the women's cross-country skiing event in Tésero, Italy, on Wednesday. A large dog joined in the race and was even caught on Omega's official timekeeping camera as he crossed the finish line. 

The dog was identified as a Czechoslovakian wolfdog named Nazgul, who belongs to a family who runs a local bed and breakfast. His owners speculated that Nazgul wanted to follow his family as they left for a different Olympic event, and broke out of the house. While the wolfdog surprised and unnerved some of the competitors, his presence did not affect the results of the heat, since the qualifying skiers had already crossed the finish line. That's a good dog.