Even at the world’s biggest sporting event, surprises happen, and there have been a fair few of them at Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics this year. The most recent surprise, and the cutest one, has four legs.
During the Women’s Cross-Country Skiing Team Sprint, an unexpected athlete burst onto the course. Nazgûl, a wolfdog (presumably named after the dark riders from The Lord of the Rings), sprinted alongside competitors before charging straight over the finish line.
And just like every human competitor, his finish was officially recorded.
Omega’s Scan’O’Vision Ultimate photofinish camera – the same system used to separate Olympic champs from runners-up – captured the exact moment Nazgûl crossed the line.
The next-generation device can record up to 40,000 digital images per second, focused solely on the finish line. That level of precision allows officials to measure results down to thousandths of a second, ensuring nothing escapes its view. Not even an uninvited canine.
Nazgûl was eventually removed from the course safely, but not before earning global attention and an unlikely place in Olympic timing history.
While he didn’t earn a medal, his recorded finish makes him one of the more unusual “participants” ever logged by Olympic technology.
The moment also serves as a reminder of how far timekeeping has evolved. Omega introduced its first Scan’O’Vision system at the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics, marking the shift to fully digital photofinish imaging.
Today’s Ultimate version goes much further, combining ultra-high-resolution sensors with computer-assisted analysis to deliver results almost instantly.
Nazgûl’s run may have lasted only seconds, but it’s already sparked an online petition on Change.org calling for him to receive an honorary Olympic medal.
That outcome remains unlikely. Still, thanks to technology designed never to miss a finish, his brief dash into Olympic competition is now permanently preserved – measured, verified, and frozen in time with the same accuracy as any gold medal performance:
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