Owner of ‘wolf’ that hijacked Olympics speaks out, reveals sad reason he tried to win a medal

If you’ve been following the Winter Olympics in Italy, you might have clocked the viral moment a literal wolf nearly won a skiing event.

The truly insane moment happened on Wednesday morning, when the athletes saw the new face enter the cross-country skiing event. The new entry had a slight advantage, though, because he was running on four legs.

In videos that went mega viral on Twitter and TikTok, the dog, which appeared to be a full-blown wolf, was running behind the skiiers on their cross-country run. Sadly, he did not win a medal.

A Czechoslovakian Wolfdog joined the Olympic cross-country sprint and even made it into the photo finish!

This morning, the women’s team cross-country sprint qualification took place at the Olympics.

As Argentine athlete Nahyara Díaz González approached the finish line, a… pic.twitter.com/ucLhXECA96

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) February 18, 2026

“At first I thought it was a wolf, and that I was hallucinating because of the strenuous race,” Croatia’s Tena Hadzic recalled after the race.

“It was extremely large, and as I ran past it, I was afraid it might bite me. The fact that he even made it onto the track isn’t good. For me, it’s not a big deal since I’m not competing for a medal. But if that had happened in the final, where medals are at stake, it could have been dangerous.”

Greece’s Konstantina Charalampido had a slightly different take, arguing “he was very well-behaved” during the race.

This local Wolfdog joined an Olympic ski event and triggered the finish-line camera. This is Nazgul. He snuck into a cross-country skiing sprint this morning and raced the homestretch with some competitors before being escorted home. 14/10 someone get him a medal pic.twitter.com/BQoerJXX9j

— WeRateDogs (@dog_rates) February 18, 2026

“He followed the camera on the finishing straight, was cute, and thankfully didn’t disrupt the race,” she added. “It was funny. He made me forget about the race, because it wasn’t good. Thanks to him, I’m famous now, so I have to thank him.”

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The Olympics wolf is called Nazgul, and his owner has spoken out

Following the viral moment, the identity of the wolf, correctly revealed to be a Czechoslovakian wolfdog, was revealed. His name is Nazgul, and shockingly, he’s not even an IOC-registered athlete!

Though the person chose to remain anonymous on the account of some backlash they’ve recieved, Nazgul’s owner revealed the lowkey sad reason he was even at the Olympics.

Highlight of the day? What I consider the finest photo of Nazgul the cross-country skiing dog in circulation. pic.twitter.com/kwUM63R2Du

— Jacob Whitehead (@jwhitey98) February 18, 2026

“He was crying this morning more than normal because he was seeing us leaving — and I think he just wanted to follow us,” they told NPR. “He always looks for people.”

Nazgul, who was described by his owner as “stubborn but sweet”, had “run away” from home and “disappeared” after his owners had left the house. He just wanted some friends, bless him.

I am starting a petition to get Nazgul an honorary gold medal.

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Featured image credit: HANNIBAL HANSCHKE/EPA/Shutterstock