During the few seconds at the Winter Games, no applause was more deafening than that of a dog. At cross-country qualifying race (women teams) of Tesero Cross Country Stadium, Val di Fiemme, a large dog ran on the track and passed by the runners who were nearing the finish line. Another commentator in a video uploaded by NBC Olympics and Paralympics is heard saying, The largest cheer of the day is not yet taken by any of the skiiers, as the dog passes the line immediately after the skiers.
The animal was later described by the organizers as a “domesticated wolfdog,” which ran into the lanes a few times, and was immediately captured and sent back to its owner, and the incident did not disrupt or disrupt the competition. The dog was named Nazgul, a 2-year-old Czechoslovakian wolfdog, by the NPR, and its owners worked as event officials.
The simplicity of the unscripted animal appearance is simple to comprehend. A full stadium is constructed in haste and show, and when a dog is running with the same single-purpose concentration as the best-skiers do, the vision produces immediate, universal understanding: everyone can remember the feeling of chasing the finish line. It is also due to that clarity that these moments spread quick over the internet. The animal behavior of the dog, stopping to think and then devoting oneself to running, translates as a pet action taken out of its place, enacted in a world of split times and bibs, and transforms one of the most technical sports into one that anyone can respond to in real time.
In the case of at least one rival, however, the surprise had an advantage. Croatian skier Tena Hadzic told NPR, “I was thinking, I am hallucinating? I do not know what to do, added she, since he might attack me, bite me. Hadzic told her that it probably cost her a few seconds of time, and that though it had not been a deciding factor in her performance, such interference in a final might prove to carry a price.
That tension, the joy of the spectators, the uncertainty of the athletes in a second, is one of the reasons why major sporting arenas do not consider unexpected animals a mere interruption. The advice on animals in organized sport is that welfare and safety must be a priority, and that a event manager must be aware of the risks involved and have clear guidelines and trained staff to mitigate them on people and animals. According to the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, animal health and welfare promotion is paramount in sport and competition and that crowded, highly stimulating conditions may expose animals to stress and resulting injury or illness.
The pet dog, in this instance, was soon handed back to its owner and no one seemed to be injured. The impression that remained was the crowding together a unique Olympic throb when the winner of the race was not to come on skis, but on four feet.
