Cross-Country Skiing Olympic Games Milano Cortina

Winter Olympics 2026: Cross-country race disrupted by unlikely visitor at Milano Cortina - 'We had a bonus competitor on the course there'

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The women's team sprint free cross-country qualification race was disrupted by an unlikely visitor at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games. With the first leg almost complete and the second athletes preparing to get to the start list, some of the later finishers were chased to the finish line by a husky, who managed to get onto the course and cross the finish line in adorable scenes.

On the pawdium! Watch bizarre moment dog interrupts Winter Olympics

Video credit: TNT Sports

The women's team sprint free cross-country qualification race at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games was disrupted by a hilarious husky who got onto the course.

With the last remaining athletes in the first leg of the race finishing, the race was temporarily disrupted by the adorable dog, who chased down some competitors to cross the finish line.

The "bonus competitor" managed to get onto the track and finish narrowly behind Hungarian skier Sara Ponya, who finished 26th.

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It prompted the chief of competition to take some time to pet the K-9 who was even captured with the finish line infra-red camera.

The presence of the happy-looking four-legged competitor prompted commentary duo Ian Woods and Posy Musgrave to detract from telling viewers about the competition temporarily as the wolf-like animal took centre stage.

Musgrave said: "We had a bonus competitor on the course there, I think there was a dog in the background - there we go!

"It has sped up the times of the last few there, getting chased down by that."

The husky was seen chasing down the last remaining contenders in the fist leg of the women's team sprint free cross-country skiing race at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Image credit: Getty Images

Woods continued the humorous element of the dog's presence and even offered to take it home if it did not have an owner.

He said: "At the moment, the crowd are going to be entertained by this, but being chased by a wolf is no fun.

"What a beauty and it certainly looks like a wolf!

"Does anybody know this dog and if they don't, then I am volunteering to introduce him to my dog, Juror - we'll have him."

The presence of the dog, who ran up to athletes and wanted to play with them before being led off the course safely, did not cause mass disruption due to its timing, with the second set of skiers due to begin.

Swedish duo Jonna Sunding and Maja Dahlqvist qualified in first for the final, with Finnish pair Jasmi Joensuu and Jasmin Kahara qualifying in second, 14 seconds back and Canadians Alison Mackie and Liliane Gagnon two seconds behind that in third.

The top 15 qualified for the final, which gets underway at 10:45 UK on Wednesday.

Hungary's second skier, Lara Vanda Laczko's time saw her team rise to 25th overall, which was not enough to secure qualification for the final, meaning the four-legged competitor would also not have qualified.

The happy-looking dog took centre stage as he ran across the course.

Image credit: Getty Images

Musgrave added: "[I am] not sure what time the dog ended up with there, but 47 seconds back for 26th.

"[It's a] lovely finish, look at that, bounding down the finish line."

The dog was seen with the chief of competition safely away from the course ahead of the second skiers, prompting Woods to comment on how the owners must feel.

"[It is] nice to see this dog has a collar on and a smile on his face, otherwise I'm not sure I would be going anywhere near it to be fair," he said.

"Whoever's dog that is, they are going to be somewhat horrified and very proud I think."

Watch every event of Milano Cortina 2026 live on discovery+. Available across all subscription plans, starting at £3.99.

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