With the Olympics being the spectacle that it is, you never know what you're going to get!
At this year's Winter Olympics, for instance, a wolfdog named Nazghul crashed the party by running onto the track during the Women's Cross-Country Team Sprint between Team Croatia and Team Australia.
Nazghul completed the race alongside his two competitors, coming in third place—or he would have if he'd actually signed up as a pup-ticipant!
One of the announcers had a field day with Nazghul's appearance:
"Anybody lost their dog?!"
"It's a fairly nice mutt, there, not hindering anybody's progress."
"But, you know, better it happened now than during the group sprints, let's put it that way."
"It's just one of those moments you have to laugh about."
After reaching the finish line, several Olympics volunteers were ready to intercept him, but Nazghul was more than willing to interact with them and receive attention, accepting belly rubs and head scratches before they reunited him with his owners.
You can catch the moment here:
Viewers were left cheering for the courageous wolfdog and even wished he'd receive a medal.
For the Millennials and Gen-Xers who are geeking out right now, this unfortunately isn't a new real-life embodiment of Balto, but the similarities are there!
Instead of trying to navigate the Iditarod Trail to deliver life-saving medicine, Nazghul was seeking out his mom and had some Olympic-sized fun along the way.
According to additional information provided by E! News, Nazghul had seemed more anxious than usual that morning while his owner was leaving to watch the race nearby.
They reflected:
"He was crying this morning more than normal because he was seeing us leaving, and I think he just wanted to follow us."
Their best guess was that Nazghul figured out a way to get out of their yard and, already familiar with the area, tracked them to the race before participating in it himself.
You can see more about Nazghul's Big Adventure here:
- YouTubeyoutu.be
This moment is definitely one for the record books, since it's fun and harmless—and sure to go wrong somehow if you tried to plan it ahead of time.
It most certainly will be Nazghul's family's favorite race, because what could beat the surprise appearance of man's best friend on the track?
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