Athletes in the women’s team sprint cross country were joined by an enthusiastic but unaccredited companion in Tesero as a dog stole the show at the Winter Olympics.

The furry friend, speculated to be a husky but with the looks very much resemblant of a wolf, wandered onto the stadium course during the race to a howling reaction from the crowd.

At the final straight, the canine found his way onto the snow and was briefly distracted by the trackside camera before trying to catch up the two competitors striving for the line.

It then raced across the line behind Croatian Tena Hadzic to rapturous cheers, greeting the exhausted skiers by sniffing out his competition.

Officials eventually got hold of the tail-wagging interloper but not before timekeepers preparing for a photo-finish in the race captured an image of the dog crossing the line.

Fortunately, it was only qualification and not the medal race, meaning competitors and officials could laugh off the incident rather than stress over its impact on the final standings.