The team sprint has been part of the Olympic program since the 2006 Turin Games. Four years ago in Beijing,

"[Swedish competitor] Jonna [Sundling] set a hard pace right from the start. It was a real challenge. It's a proper course, my legs were full of lactic acid," said Pulles after the final. "The finish went quite nicely, but it could have been a bit longer, because then we could have caught two competitors," Kaasiku added.

In this event, both members of each team ski individually, with the qualifiers decided based on combined times.

26 pairs lined up at the start of qualification, with Estonia represented by Mariel Merlii Pulles and Keidy Kaasiku (bib 12).

Eventual winners Sundling and Maja Dahlqvist were quickest for Sweden with a time of 6:29.94, 31.44 seconds ahead of the Estonian pair.

Kaasiku told ERR after qualifying that the goal was to try and beat the 12th place set at the last world championships.

Pulles and Kaasiku looked like they might attain that, as they hovered around the top 10 over the nine-kilometer course, but ultimately finished in 12th place (1:04.96 behind the winning pair).

Sweden did not falter in the final, going on to win after leading for almost the entire distance. Swiss pair Nadja Kälin and Nadine Fähndrich, who won silver, were 1.40 seconds behind, while bronze went to Germany's Laura Gimmler and Coletta Rydzek.

Enter Nazgul

Qualification was also dogged, literally, when a Czechoslovakian wolfdog named "Nazgul" took to the track and chased one pair of skiers to the finish line.

While dogs are barred from the trackside, Nazgul, who has become something of an unofficial mascot of the Olympics, reportedly breached security from outside, finding the track himself. He did not act aggressively towards the competitors or anyone else.

"The dog came from outside and ran so fast that it made its way into the spectators' tent and from there onto the ski track," described Val di Fiemme Olympic competitions director Giovanni Plano.

"He was really so fast that we only managed to catch him after the finish. He was actually very calm, so once we had him, we were able to escort him nicely out of the stadium."

One of the two finishers at the time Nazgul appeared was Tena Hadzic, a 21-year-old Croatian skier. "It's not that big of a deal, because I'm not fighting for medals or anything big," she said. "But if that happened in the finals, it could really cost someone the medals, or a really good result," Hadzic noted.

Click on the video player below for ERR Sport's segment on the canine interlude.

Men's team fail to qualify

Meanwhile in the men's qualification, 27 pairs started, with Karl Sebastian Dremljuga and Martin Himma racing for Estonia (wearing bib 16).

Sadly, the pair failed to reach the top 15, as their combined time of 6:05.36 put them in 18th place, about eight seconds short of advancing to the final.

"I tried to ski my own race. Without knowing the result, it felt okay, I distributed my energy better than in the sprint. The course was fast and that suited me. There was a slight stiffness at the top of the climb, but it was okay," Himma said after qualifying. "Today the track conditions were relatively fast, so if you're technically sloppy it punishes you quickly. Overall, the Olympics were still a disappointment for me," Dremljuga added.

Norway's human medal minter Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and his compatriot Einar Hedegart won, over Germany, with local competitors Italy adding another medal, this time bronze, to the collection.

This was Klæbo's fifth gold medal at the Milano Cortina Games alone, and the tenth Olympic gold of his career.

Editor's note: This piece was updated to include a video with Nazgul the dog.

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