{"id":7635,"date":"2026-02-22T00:13:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T00:13:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=7635"},"modified":"2026-02-22T00:13:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T00:13:34","slug":"nazgul-slipped-out-of-his-kennel-nudged-his-way-to-freedom-and-charged-onto-the-womens-team-sprint-course-like-he-belonged-there-for-a-split-second-fans-genuinely-thought-a-wolf-had-broke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=7635","title":{"rendered":"Nazgul slipped out of his kennel, nudged his way to freedom, and charged onto the women\u2019s team sprint course like he belonged there. For a split second, fans genuinely thought a wolf had broken through security as the powerful dog thundered down the finishing straight in a scene that felt almost cinematic. While the crowd roared and cameras rolled, his owners were miles away, watching the viral clips in shock as their \u201cwolf\u201d turned into the Games\u2019 most unexpected star. There\u2019s a video of the exact moment he bursts onto the course \u2014 and what happens just seconds later changes everything&#8230; Watch below \ud83d\udc47"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"photo-captioned photo-captioned-full photo-cntr eight_col \">\n<p class=\"photo-captioned__information\"><span class=\"caption\">Nazgul runs next to Tena Hadzic from Croatia during the cross-country team sprint on Lago di Tesero.\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"credit\">Photo:\u00a0AFP \/ NTB \/ Terje Pedersen<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Nazgul, a wolfdog, gatecrashed women\u2019s team sprint race<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Owners Enrico and Alice Varesco panicked after seeing videos<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Race officials quickly caught Nazgul, no athletes harmed<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When the Varesco family headed off to watch the biathlon at the Winter Olympics on Wednesday they left their two-year-old Czechoslovakian wolfdog Nazgul locked in his kennel at home in Tesero.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-4\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.rnztools.nz\/rnz\/image\/upload\/s--Fy5jPGZE--\/ar_16:10,c_fill,f_auto,g_auto,q_auto,w_1050\/v1771447981\/4JSYZBS_AFP__20260218__NS_JO16CDXBOF0__v1__HighRes__WinterOlympicsInMilanCortina2026_jpg?_a=BACCd2AD\" alt=\"Val di Fiemme, Italy 20260218. \nA dog runs next to Tena Hadzic from Croatia during the cross-country team sprint on Lago di Tesero during the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina 2026.\nPhoto: Terje Pedersen \/ NTB (Photo by TERJE PEDERSEN \/ NTB via AFP)\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In their absence, Nazgul became the most unlikely star of the Milano Cortina Games after escaping from the house and\u00a0wandering onto the nearby Olympic cross-country course\u00a0before sprinting down the finishing straight alongside the skiers.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-5\"><\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe were on the train to Anterselva to watch the biathlon,\u201d Alice Varesco told Reuters on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were three hours from home when friends started sending us videos. That was the panic moment. We realised we could not do anything.\u201d For a few surreal seconds during the qualifying races, spectators thought a wolf had wandered onto the course. Instead, it was Nazgul, lean and silver-grey, ears pricked, locking onto the skiers ahead of him and instinctively joining the chase.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-69794\" src=\"https:\/\/newsngay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Frame-Thumb-9-20-300x162.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newsngay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Frame-Thumb-9-20-300x162.jpg 300w, https:\/\/newsngay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Frame-Thumb-9-20.jpg 650w\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"162\" \/><\/p>\n<p>He even appeared in an official photo finish image, which was how Alice and Ernesto Varesco ultimately confirmed it was their dog.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cConcern, for sure,\u201d Alice said of her first reaction. \u201cIt was with us the whole day actually. Even after they told us he was safe, we kept thinking about what could have gone wrong.\u201d Nazgul had never previously got out of the house on his own and the Varescos think that, frustrated at being left behind, he may have nudged a lever repeatedly until it gave way before managing to get the door to the house open.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wanted to look for us I think because he\u2019s used \u2026 to going in that direction with us when we go for a walk,\u201d Alice said. \u201cHe likes to stay with his crew.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"photo-captioned photo-captioned-full photo-cntr eight_col \"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.rnztools.nz\/rnz\/image\/upload\/s--pvKzTUBj--\/ar_16:10,c_fill,f_auto,g_auto,q_auto,w_1050\/v1771439886\/4JSZ5KL_cnn_L19jb21wb25lbnRzL2ltYWdlL2luc3RhbmNlcy9jbWxzM3VzZTQwMDBpM2I2cjUydGo5dWxn_L19jb21wb25lbnRzL2FydGljbGUvaW5zdGFuY2VzL2NtbHMzcDAwcDAwOTcyNm90OHZ4cmJiNHY_JPG?_a=BACCd2AD\" alt=\"A dog \u2013 reportedly a Czechoslovakian wolfdog \u2013 wanders onto the ski trail during the women's team cross country free sprint qualification event at Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium in Lago di Tesero (Val di Fiemme) on February 18.\" width=\"1050\" height=\"699\" \/>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"photo-captioned__information\"><span class=\"caption\">Nazgul had wandered onto the ski trail during the women\u2019s team cross country free sprint qualification event\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"credit\">Photo: Anne-Christine Poujoulat\/AFP\/Getty Images via CNN Newsource<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Nazgul caught inside venue<\/h3>\n<p>Race officials reacted quickly to the incursion. The race director managed to catch Nazgul inside the venue, and family members brought him home within half an hour.<\/p>\n<p>By early afternoon, the footage had travelled around the world.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone was sending us videos and pictures. At a certain point we just closed the phone because it was impossible,\u201d Alice added. \u201cWe were in Anterselva with small kids and we said we need to be here and we\u2019ll look at everything later.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Security around Nazgul\u2019s kennel has been tightened to prevent any repeat for the 50km races this weekend, which the family will watch from the balcony at home with their wolfdog firmly in sight.<\/p>\n<p>The Varescos are most of all relieved that Nazgul\u2019s day out did not result in any injury or serious disruption.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe did not think this could be possible, but generally the reaction was people loved him,\u201d Alice said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd it\u2019s good that nothing happened and it was going in a positive way, so everybody was happy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nazgul runs next to Tena Hadzic from Croatia during the cross-country team sprint on Lago di Tesero.\u00a0Photo:\u00a0AFP \/ NTB \/ Terje Pedersen Nazgul, a wolfdog, gatecrashed women\u2019s&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7636,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7635"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7637,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7635\/revisions\/7637"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}