Jimmy Kimmel’s fake wolf video gets a laugh from IOC spokesman

U.S. luge star Kate Hansen and talk show host Jimmy Kimmel pulled off a hoax -- a wolf supposedly walking down the hallway in a dorm at the Sochi Olympics -- that created a worldwide stir, but a spokesman for the International Olympic Committe took the prank in stride.

Hansen allowed Kimmel to post the video on her Twitter account. It was actually a wolf wandering down a hallway that was fabricated at Kimmel’s studio to look like the U.S. dorms at the Olympic Village in Sochi, Russia.

Kimmel revealed the prank on his show during an interview with Hansen, who was still in Sochi.

“It made me kind of laugh as an individual, not as an IOC spokesman,” said Mark Adams, a spokesman for the IOC. “I don’t think there’s any harm done. I don’t think it’s anything serious.”

When asked by Kimmel what happened in Sochi, Hansen said, “Honestly, there was a little bit more backlash than I thought there would be, but it was all worth it in the end.”

She said she kept low the morning after the video was posted but that the prank soon became serious business.

“I started hearing people talk around the building and then security started freaking out ‘cause technically it’s a breach within athlete safety,” Hansen told Kimmel. “It kind of went a little crazy over here.”

Hansen is best known for her dancing to music by Beyonce before making her luge runs as well as taking part in fun-filled videos that feature fellow athletes.

[For The Record, 5:25 a.m. PST Feb. 21: An earlier version of this post indicated that Mark Adams is a member of the International Olympic Committee. He is an IOC spokesman.]

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