An unusual incident disrupted the women’s 50km marathon at the Russian Cross-Country Skiing Championships in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk after a dog ran onto the course and collided with two athletes, İdman.Biz reports.
The incident occurred on a downhill section when the animal suddenly appeared in front of a leading group of four skiers. With little time to react, the athletes were unable to slow down before the collision.
Arina Kusurgasheva was the first to be struck by the dog and fell to the snow. Alina Kudisova, skiing immediately behind her, became entangled in the fall and also crashed. Meanwhile, the other two members of the leading group, Maria Istomina and Evgeniya Krupitskaya, managed to avoid the incident and continued the race.
Kusurgasheva quickly got back on her skis and returned to the course, but Kudisova struggled to stand up and was ultimately forced to withdraw from the race. As she left the scene, she was visibly limping.
Incidents involving animals occasionally occur in cross-country skiing events held on open courses, though such collisions remain rare at major competitions.
