{"id":647,"date":"2026-02-22T03:54:03","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T03:54:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vibes15.com\/?p=647"},"modified":"2026-02-22T03:54:03","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T03:54:03","slug":"nazgul-the-wolfdog-is-home-after-stunning-olympic-sprint-scene-and-his-owner-reveals-why-it-will-never-happen-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vibes15.com\/?p=647","title":{"rendered":"Nazgul the Wolfdog Is Home After Stunning Olympic Sprint Scene, and His Owner Reveals Why It Will Never Happen Again"},"content":{"rendered":"<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<p>In their absence, Nazgul became the most unlikely star of the Milano Cortina Games after escaping from the house and wandering onto the nearby Olympic cross-country course before sprinting down the finishing straight alongside the skiers.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-3\"><\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-42055 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/spotlightfocus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/wolfdog-cross-women-race-olympic-run-identity-story-racers-nazgul-owner-recount.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"813\" height=\"439\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"eyeo\" data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1703381\" data-uid=\"10419\" data-src-id=\"${PUBLISHER_ID}\">\n<div id=\"mgw1703381_10419\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-4\"><\/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<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-59051 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/qnewscenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/wolfdog-cross-women-race-olympic-run-identity-story-racers-nazgul-owner-recountpanic.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 813px) 100vw, 813px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qnewscenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/wolfdog-cross-women-race-olympic-run-identity-story-racers-nazgul-owner-recountpanic.jpg 813w, https:\/\/qnewscenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/wolfdog-cross-women-race-olympic-run-identity-story-racers-nazgul-owner-recountpanic-300x162.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qnewscenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/wolfdog-cross-women-race-olympic-run-identity-story-racers-nazgul-owner-recountpanic-768x415.jpg 768w\" alt=\"\" width=\"813\" height=\"439\" \/><\/p>\n<p>For a few surreal seconds during the qualifying races, spectators thought a wolf had wandered onto the course.<\/p>\n<p>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=\"aligncenter wp-image-42056 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/spotlightfocus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/800x800.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" \/><\/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<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/2445x1375+0+127\/resize\/1400\/quality\/85\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F43%2F9b%2Fb1c8d79b4aac8039427151efb701%2Fdog2.jpg\" alt=\"A gate-crashing dog steals the show at the Olympics : NPR\" \/><\/p>\n<p>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<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/resizer\/v2\/XQ2UFUA435LZ7EJT325KLO3DWI.jpg?auth=f4b714b0bd4a0260c3a8db42278deadac65d46ff3c087345279ae65617c38e6e&amp;width=1080&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"Owners recount panic after wolfdog Nazgul gatecrashes sprint at Olympics | Reuters\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>NAZGUL CAUGHT INSIDE VENUE<\/h2>\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><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com\/reuters\/Y7YEE67FINJXNF2KB6VIJ5G52E.jpg\" alt=\"Owners recount panic after wolfdog Nazgul gatecrashes sprint at Olympics | Reuters\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Security around Nazgul\u2019s kennel has been tightened to prevent any repeat for the 50-kilometre 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-5\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-6\">\n<div class=\"eyeo\" data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1602770\" data-src-id=\"${PUBLISHER_ID}\" data-uid=\"145c5\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<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. In their absence, Nazgul became the most unlikely star of the Milano Cortina Games after escaping from the house and wandering onto the nearby [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":648,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Nazgul the Wolfdog Is Home After Stunning Olympic Sprint Scene, and His Owner Reveals Why It Will Never Happen Again - Vibes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/vibes15.com\/?p=647\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nazgul the Wolfdog Is Home After Stunning Olympic Sprint Scene, and His Owner Reveals Why It Will Never Happen Again - Vibes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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. 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