Owner only realised her dog had gatecrashed the Winter Olympics when she saw him cross finish line on TV – after he’d unlocked his cage and opened front door himself

The owner of the dog who gatecrashed a Winter Olympics ski race only realised he had escaped their flat when she saw him sprinting across the finish line on TV.

Alice Varesco, 35, a former Olympic skier who now works in trade marketing, told the Daily Mail she could hardly believe her eyes when she spotted two-year-old Nazgul barrelling through the women’s team cross-country skiing qualifying round.

She and her husband Enrico, who live only a short walk from the Lake Tesero course, had left him locked in his kennel at home before heading out to the biathlon, believing there was no way he could get out.

It was only when friends began flooding her phone with clips from the race that she realised the dog tearing across the course was her ‘stubborn, but very sweet’ Czechoslovakian wolfdog.

‘I thought it was impossible,’ she said. ‘We had left him in his kennel and the door was closed, so I couldn’t understand how it could be him.’

After pausing the footage, she recognised his markings and phoned neighbours, who confirmed his kennel was empty and the flat door had been left ajar.

Race officials eventually managed to catch the runaway hound and lead him away from the course to applause from spectators.

But the drama was not over. Alice later learned Nazgul wriggled free again shortly after being taken off the track, briefly slipping his handler’s grasp before being secured for a second time.

‘I was so embarrassed,’ she admitted. ‘When they told me he had escaped again after they caught him, I just thought, “Oh no, not again.”’

She said organisers were understanding and relieved nothing more serious had happened, with Nazgul quickly returned to safety after his second bid for freedom.

‘This is the first time he’s ever done something like this, so we’ll definitely have to keep a much closer eye on him,’ she said.

Footage seen around the world showed Nazgul pursuing skiers from Croatia and Greece as they powered towards the finishing straight, prompting coos and laughter from the crowd.

However, not everyone was amused.

Croatia’s Tena Hadzic admitted she was startled by the animal’s sudden appearance.

‘At first I thought it was a wolf and that I was hallucinating because of the strenuous race. It was extremely large and, as I ran past it, I was afraid it might bite me,’ she said.

‘The fact he even made it onto the track isn’t good. For me it’s no 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.’

Greek skier Konstantin Charalampidou, who finished last, took a more relaxed view.

‘Luckily he was very well behaved. He followed the camera on the finishing straight, was cute and thankfully didn’t disrupt the race,’ she said.

‘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.’

Alice believes Nazgul managed to shake open the latch of his kennel before padding to the front door of their flat, which had not been locked.

‘He must have pulled down the handle with his paw, walked down the stairs and somehow made his way to the track,’ she said.

She admitted she was terrified when she realised what had happened.

‘He’s friendly, social and playful, but I was worried he might be confused by the crowds and react badly. Something could have gone wrong,’ she said.

‘The race director managed to get hold of him and take him away – but that’s when he escaped again.’

Nazgul takes his name from the Ringwraiths in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and was even given an official photo finish time by Swiss timekeeper Omega as he crossed the line.

Alice added: ‘We both love the book, although I wasn’t a fan of the name – it was Enrico’s idea. I wanted to call him Athos, after one of The Three Musketeers.

‘He’s a real wilderness dog and that’s the kind of people we are. We love the outdoors and the mountains, and he loves going on long walks with us.

‘It’s not an easy breed – you have to work very hard with them in the first year – but he’s super social and super friendly.

‘We apologised to the organisers because we knew things could have gone wrong, but they were just relieved nothing serious happened.’