Youtube has captivated the video of the race of the “worst skier in the world” at the World Championships in Finland. Venezuelan skier Adrian Solano made a splash at the World Championships in Lahti To meet a dream

The IOC, when developing a selection system for the Winter Olympic Games, specifically makes concessions to countries where winter sports are poorly developed or not developed at all. And, in general, he does the right thing, because one single clumsy African skier can sometimes attract more fans to the screens than an invincible champion. And, believe me, there will be many such strange athletes in Korea. We decided to bring together all the unusual athletes: a skier from Tonga who became famous for his bare torso, an alpine skier from Eritrea who just wants to finish, colorful Nigerian bobsledders and the great Japanese Kamikaze.

Half naked skier

Among those who will not compete for medals at the Pyeongchang Olympics, Pita Taufatofua has every chance of becoming the main star. He is a skier from Tonga, a small island nation in Polynesia whose inhabitants have never seen snow in their lives. But you might remember Pita as a taekwondo athlete. More precisely, a naked athlete in oil. Although let's talk about it in order.

Pita gained worldwide fame at the closing of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, performing there much more brilliantly than at the taekwondo tournament, where he lost in the first bout. On the last day of the Games in Rio de Janeiro, he walked through the stadium with a flag in national costume - that is, bare-chested and thickly smeared with coconut oil. In the same form, Taufatofua appeared for several months on various television shows - everyone liked this image so much.

The Tongan did not wait four years to once again “light up” at the Olympics, but decided... to get on skis, which he had previously only seen on TV, and go to the Winter Games. With the assistance of the IOC, he first tried roller skis, then tested the snow, competed at the World Cross-Country Championships, and ultimately, literally at the last moment, fulfilled the Olympic standard. And now fans are interested in only one question: will Pita risk wearing his traditional costume of just a skirt and coconut oil in the Korean frost?

I’m standing on the track, wearing skis...

For athletes like the Tongan, cross-country skiing is one of the easiest routes to the Winter Olympics. The hardest thing is to find the right skis and equipment to train with. But if physical preparation allows, it is quite possible to succeed and get a quota. The list of exotic participants in the ski competitions in Pyeongchang is amazing: the unique Bermudian Tucker Murphy, who came to his third Olympics, 38-year-old Ecuadorian Klaus Jungbluth Rodriguez, Mathilde Amivi-Petitjean, who was born in France, but came to Korea under the flag of Togo. There are also skiers from Mongolia, North Korea, Pakistan and Thailand. So even the battle for last places at the Games can be interesting.

The geography of alpine skiing is even more diverse. There is also an athlete from Togo here - Alessia Afi Dipol. She is a native Italian who managed to play for India. There is alpine skier Yoann Gut Gonçalves from East Timor, who took last place at the Olympics in Sochi. There is Myalityana Clerc, who lives in France but flies under the flag of the tropical island of Madagascar. And there is a classic example of an African skier: Shannon-Ogbani Abeda from Eritrea. He competed at the Youth Olympics in 2012, but failed to finish in any of the four disciplines. Maybe at the adult level it will be possible to show at least some results?

Colombian Challenger

Spectators have long been accustomed to the abundance of skiers and alpine skiers from exotic countries at the Olympics. What do you think of a speed skater born in a country where the skating rinks are not flooded for the winter? And what about a speed skater who can compete for an Olympic medal! Colombian Pedro Caucill will become the first South American to qualify for speed skating. At the same time, qualification was easy for him, because Pedro is a titled athlete in roller skating. This event is not included in the Olympic program, but the Colombian dreams of an Olympic medal, which is why he swapped asphalt for ice. Of course, it’s hard to call him the favorite of the competition, but he definitely won’t end up in last place.

It is curious that the first speed skater from South America was immediately joined by the second. More precisely, the second one. Kausil's compatriot Laura Gomez got the opportunity to start in the mass start due to the redistribution of quotas due to the absence of Russian athletes.

African pioneers

Jamaican bobsleigh became the talk of the town many years ago. The team from the sunny country decided to take a risk, try themselves in a new, non-standard sport, and they were right, although they did not show high athletic results. Nigerian girls, who will compete in bobsleigh and skeleton at the Games in Pyeongchang, are planning to follow a similar path. Simidele Adeagbo is the first black African woman to compete in Olympic skeleton competition. Simidele herself is very proud of this achievement. It is known that she worked long and hard towards her Olympics, training on the tracks in North America, but it is difficult to say now whether she will qualify for any significant sporting result: Adeagbo did not compete in the World Cup - she has not yet reached this tournament. It is curious that the men's skeleton will also not do without an African: Akwasi Frimpong, nicknamed Ping-Pong, lived in the Netherlands for many years and was involved in athletics, but never reached the heights. Things went much better for him in skeleton - he already reached the Olympics.

Nigerian bobsledders, who are preparing to become the first representatives of Africa to descend in a bob down an ice chute at the Olympics, have also made a splash in the world. Three athletes arrived in South Korea: pilot Seun Adigun and speedsters Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omeoga. Which of the accelerators will start will be decided literally in the coming days. Adigun will start one hundred percent: not only is she a pilot, but she also has experience of participating in the Olympics - in London 2012 she competed in the sprint hurdles.

Young people and old people

At the Olympics it is also always interesting to understand the distribution of athletes by age, to find the youngest and oldest. Chinese snowboarder Wu Meng, competing in the halfpipe discipline, will receive the status of the youngest athlete at the 2018 Games. On the opening day of the Olympics, she will be 15 years, 4 months and 7 days. The fourth youngest athlete in South Korea is Russia's Alina Zagitova, a gold medal contender in women's figure skating. She will be 15 years, 8 months and 22 days old on opening day.

The oldest athlete at the 2018 Olympics will be Canadian Cheryl Bernard, who has been curling for more than 40 years. In 2010, she won a silver medal at the Games in Vancouver, then ended her sports career, but returned to, most likely, become the oldest Winter Olympics medalist in history - Canada's chances of winning a medal in curling are very high. And when it comes to records, we cannot ignore the outstanding Japanese veteran Noriaki Kasai. This legendary ski jumper still shares the record with Russian luger Albert Demchenko - both competed in seven Olympics. But in a couple of days, Noriaki will become the only owner of a unique record. At the same time, at 45 years old, the athlete, who is called Kamikaze, is in such brilliant shape that he even thinks about winning, because gold is still missing from his extensive medal collection.

The performance of a skier from Venezuela gained enormous popularity on the Internet. Adrian Solano stood on a par with such figures as Zhdun, Chumazik, Witness, Kim Kardashian, Stoned Fox, etc.
This video captures some moments of his unequal struggle with the ski slope.

Since I watched all this live, constantly poking my elbow in my wife’s side and exclaiming: “No, just look!”, I will give some comments. It's actually even funnier.

There were almost no sports competitions on Wednesday, so Eurosport broadcast live the qualifications for the World Championships. Those skiers who have not had successful performances at international competitions participate in the qualifications; several of the best will receive access to 15 kilometers of classic skiing. The qualification, however, was for 10 kilometers, since there was a reasonable fear that not only everyone would be able to complete 15 kilometers.

The television broadcast focused on Solano from the very beginning, and not only because he was lucky to pull out the first number and immediately fall after the start. To be honest, the level of qualifications is such that there was no particular point in showing the best. So, in the top ten were a 40-year-old Belgian and a 15-year-old Croatian.

In addition, Adrian Solano made history even before the start. When he arrived in Germany, the border guards mistook him for someone like a terrorist or a drug courier and kept him in jail for five days, which is why he came to the start intimidated and hungry.

The sports commentator, who melancholy commented on his performance, informed that this is a common thing in qualifications, this is the genre, and in general, compared to the skiers from Iran who competed in qualifications the day before, he was very good. Unfortunately, there was no broadcast from the women's qualification and the Iranian skiers were left without well-deserved laurels.

The route had some technically difficult ups and downs, but now all routes are like that. However, the organization, IMHO, was disgusting. The athletes could not understand what they wanted from them, they were somewhat late for the start, the track was poorly marked, there were no judges at the junctions, and many simply got lost. Thus, they showed in great detail how the judges approached the Iranian who had finished vigorously and tried to explain what he had cut. He didn't understand. They were looking for a translator, then they found him, he began to explain to him that at the turn it was necessary not to turn left to the finish, but to go to the right and make another three-kilometer loop there. So he needs to go back, go through the loop and then finish. In response, the Iranian expressed what he thought about the organizers.

Solano heroically finished a little over an hour after the start, but since he also missed the loop and walked 7 instead of 10 kilometers, his result was not recorded in the protocol.

So, gentlemen, readers, if you want to take part in the World Ski Championships, take Venezuelan citizenship.

YouTube VIDEO of the performance of Venezuelan skier Adrian Solano at the World Ski Championships in Lahti made the Internet laugh.

The performance of skier Adrian Solano from Venezuela at the World Ski Championships in Lahti, Finland, became a hit on the YouTube video hosting site.

The 22-year-old athlete entered the 10-kilometer race in the classic style as number one and immediately attracted the attention of numerous spectators by almost falling right at the start, unable to stay on his skis. Apparently, Solano intkbbee I got on skis for the second time in my life.

Nevertheless, the Venezuelan skier, despite his tangled legs, constant comical falls and broken poles, showed a lot of perseverance at the distance. For which the noble Finnish public gave Adrian loud applause every time

And yet, the athlete, after once again struggling on the fifth point of the hill, withdrew from the race at around 6.1 km. At that time, his gap from the race leader was about 38 minutes.

“The worst skier in the world,” as Internet users dubbed Solano, caused a flurry of jokes on the Internet.

“Barack Obama?”, “Well done for taking part in the competition at all. Bravo for courage! And well done for always having a smile on your face” “I respect this guy. He's great. It’s obvious that he’s trying!” “Who released this clown onto the track? Any questions for the organizers!” “I’m screaming loudly. The best athlete! " “Why are you lying? This is no Solano. It’s obvious that this is Mr. Bean,” this is how ski fans rated Solano’s performance, commenting on a video on YouTube that collected over 300 thousand views in less than 24 hours.

YouTube VIDEO of a Venezuelan skier's performance at the World Championships in Finland has become a hit on the Internet

It is noteworthy that Solano’s performance at the World Championships was preceded by no less tragicomic events. Before arriving in Lahti, Solano was detained in Paris on suspicion of drug smuggling. The athlete was arrested right at the airport, after which it was discovered that he only had €20 with him and did not have a credit card, which aroused suspicion.

During interrogation, he said that he was going to compete at the World Championships, but the police did not believe him, saying that he was “from Venezuela, where there is not even snow.”

However, five days later the athlete was released, TASS reports.

Venezuelan Adrian Solano, in an interview with R-Sport agency correspondent Sergei Smyshlyaev, talked about how he ended up in ski racing, how the French border guards did not believe him and how his determination impressed the coach of the Russian Paralympians, and also shared his plans for the future.

The first question that probably interests everyone: why did you choose professional sports, or rather ski racing?

The fact is that I spent about a year racing roller skis under the guidance of my coach Cesar Baena. By the way, I met him at one of the conferences in Venezuela, so he suggested to all the guys who were there that if anyone wants to try themselves in roller skiing, then, as they say, you are welcome. Most said: "What the hell!" And I reacted to this proposal with enthusiasm, because I always liked to choose difficult paths, something that is not generally accepted. Many people were surprised why I needed this, but I liked it. That's how I decided to devote myself to ski racing.

- How old were you then?

Almost turned 21 and I'm 22 now.

- Were you into any other sports before?

Seriously - no. But, like all young people, he played baseball, football, something that is popular in Venezuela. In general, when I turned 18, I went to the military academy, I studied there for a year and a half, lived in camps, and mastered parachute jumping.

At this point in the conversation, the leader of the Russian national team, Sergei Ustyugov, entered the hotel lobby, smiling at the sight of the already world-famous Venezuelan. By the way, the Latino himself was noticeably embarrassed, although he tried not to show it.

Grand plans

- What are your plans for the future? Is ski racing a hobby, or do you still set global goals for yourself?

Now this hobby has grown into grandiose plans. I used to think: “Well, I’m working out, it’s still something useful.” On weekends, my friends invited me to go out, but I chose to workout. And gradually this hobby grew into a full-fledged goal in life. And I want to continue skiing for a long time.

Tell us about your coach, in Russia he is quite famous for his appeal to President Vladimir Putin in 2014 with a request to be allowed to participate in the Olympic Games in Sochi.

He has been competing seriously since 2009, he also has a record for the most kilometers on roller skis, and in general he has won many international competitions. Of course, not as much as the Russians win, because you have snow six months a year, and not a single day in Venezuela (laughs).

- How did you prepare for the World Championships in Lahti?

I planned to spend a month of training in Sweden. But in the end I arrived in Finland only this week. The story turned out to be funny. I landed in France on January 16th and had to leave back to Venezuela on January 24th. I spent five days in a special waiting area for foreigners who want to enter France because the local authorities did not believe me that I had come to compete in the World Ski Championships.

- They write that you had only 28 euros with you...

Yes, but the thing is that Cesar has an apartment in Stockholm, so he, his brother and the team took care of the expenses for my accommodation, and I was only required to pay for the air tickets. The rest is up to the guys. But they didn’t believe me. And on January 20, after the court hearing, they released me and told me that I could continue my journey. But my ticket to Stockholm was no longer valid, because it was purchased on a promotion and could not be exchanged. I didn't have a cent of those 28 euros left in my pocket because I had to buy phone cards to contact my family and Cesar. And at 10 pm I found myself on the street in Paris, and where to go?

- And where?

I called the Venezuelan consulate, and within 15 minutes a consulate representative found me in the city center. They rented me a hotel, but the next day I found out that the air ticket was non-refundable. So all I had left was a return ticket to Venezuela, booked for March 12th. It was necessary to use it to return home. But the next flight was in a few days, so I spent Saturday, Sunday and Monday in France. Many people joked later, saying that I had a good time in Paris, posting photos, for example, with the Eiffel Tower. But that's not true. For five days before my release, I ate only bread and water, not even having the opportunity to change into clean clothes.

"I laugh at my falls in Lahti"

- But it wasn’t a real prison, was it?

Not really. Just a zone that could not be left. Although it looked like a prison, considering that the room was small and there were about forty people inside.

- So it turns out that you were not deported in the full sense of the word?

No, they weren't deported. Although during those five days they offered me: “Either go to Venezuela, or stay here.” I chose the second option because I was reaching my goal. I was lucky that on the FIS website there is a profile of an athlete who is going to the World Championships, and I was able to present this document to the court. But, as it turned out, everything was already lost. And until this Monday I was sure that I had missed my chance to go to Lahti and take part in the championship. Although it wasn’t the best performance (laughs), I take it all with humor and laugh at how I fell on the track. It was crazy how I fell! But these falls motivated me and gave me strength. And next time, I’m sure, I won’t fall like that.

Nope! (Smiles) The Olympic Games is when I will feel more prepared. And here everything happened very quickly. I got off the plane at three in the morning and lost a lot of time at the airport talking to journalists. In general, I have never felt so much attention to my person in my life. And at seven in the morning I arrived at the stadium.

- And saw snow for the first time in your life?

Yes. That is why I wanted to come to Stockholm in advance to get acquainted with the snow. But in the end I arrived and thought: “What the hell? Where am I anyway!” I’m standing near the stadium, and they’re already calling me over the speakerphone: “Adrian Solano, Adrian Solano, a minute before the start!” And I’m standing there like a fool, in jeans and regular shoes. The coach takes out his uniform from his suitcase and shouts: “Get dressed!” I had to undress right in front of the cameras, put on my suit and run to the start. I even forgot to secure the poles on my hands. There was still panic!

- Were the skis already prepared?

Skis - yes. But you understand, skis and roller skis are not the same thing at all. Absolutely.

"I feel happy"

- As Russian Anton Gafarov told me, it’s like a skier getting on skates.

When you ride roller skates on the asphalt, the sun is shining, it’s hot... And then you find yourself in the cold, snow... It’s completely different! As for physical activity, there is no difference, the same muscles work, but technically! You don’t know how to go down the mountain correctly, or how to brake. Braking is especially difficult. I planned to learn all this in a month, but it didn’t work out.

In Russia you have already become a hero, they write about you in the media, discuss you on the Internet. Are you already used to this increased attention?

No, I'm not used to it yet. But I feel happy, I feel proud. All of Russia was with me, this is unimaginable support. You can't imagine how many messages I received. The coach of Russian Paralympians even wrote to me: “Adrian Solano? Welcome to my home. I can train you, I don’t need any money, it’s just very interesting, you inspire with your determination.” And there are a lot of such messages.

- Does all this add motivation?

Certainly. I think that it doesn’t matter how much bad you hear. What matters is how much good there is. It gives me strength, all this positivity. And if you fall, the task is to get up. And I'm happy. Yes, I didn’t travel all 10 kilometers, but it was a great experience. And this is the beginning of the story of Venezuelan skier Adrian Solano! And one day I will come to the Olympics.

"I want to know Russia"

Our conversation was interrupted by a phone call, after which Solano returned not very happy.

They called from a Venezuelan newspaper, trying to trick me into using bad words against one of the parties. I don't like this.

Since the conversation turned to politics, many in Russia treated the Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez very well, but at the same time there were a sufficient number of his ardent opponents. I would like to hear your opinion.

Like many Venezuelans, I was born and raised in what we call "the revolution." And I think Chavez is a great politician. His ideals and aspirations are unique. He was a great strategist, a very smart person, who combined the best qualities. And I am proud to have been born in his time. But now I would like our country to be as advanced as many others. Venezuela is a rich country, so much oil, beautiful nature, beautiful women. We can become a great country. And I urge all Venezuelans not to think about political directions, not to be party people, but to think about the country.

- It all depends on the person himself.

Yes, from what you do yourself. You need to start with yourself, then the surrounding reality will change.

- What do you know about Russia?

It is a great power with high military potential. And although many say that Russians, and many Europeans, are very callous, this is not so. Based on messages on social networks, I realized that this is not true. In general, Russia has every chance to be even stronger and have enormous weight on the world stage. I would really like to get to know Russian culture better, to get to know Russia from the inside.

- So, it’s time to come to Russia?

Of course, it's definitely necessary. But we have to wait a little. I'll return to Venezuela and make a plan for the future. It will take about a month.

Everyone knows Boit. Even those who naively believe that they have never heard of such a person. Because he is the same Kenyan skier whose appearance at the Olympic Games in Nagano was perhaps one of the most striking events of the 1998 White Olympics. And the scene at the finish of the 10-kilometer race is included in all historical chronicles. The award ceremony and television broadcasts to the whole world with their expensive airtime were mercilessly shifted in time so that the winner - the future eight-time Olympic champion Bjorn Daly - could hug the frail Kenyan guy who decided to challenge Nature itself.

When God created the world, he strictly forbade ski racing in Kenya. And that’s why people don’t ski in Kenya. Moreover, not every Kenyan even suspects the existence of this simple sports equipment. However, this did not stop two hot African guys - Philip Boit and Henry Bitok - from realizing their cherished dream.

To earn his first skis, Henry worked for a long time on banana plantations. It is not known for certain how Philip earned money for his skis. But history reverently preserves the outcome of the first qualifying tournament in the history of Kenya for the right to participate in the Olympic tournament in Nagano between two skiers - Boit and Bitok. If we believe the then chairman of the Kenyan Olympic Committee, the respected Charles Mukora (and what reason do we actually have not to believe him?), then Boyte was ahead of his most important rival by only a few seconds. Thus, in the most intense confrontation, a Legend was born.

The story that Boit, a 26-year-old guy at the time, saw snow for the first time in his life in Olympic Nagano, of course, has nothing to do with the truth. Because it is known for certain that Boit saw snow two years earlier, in February 1996, when he first came to Finland, which soon became his second home. It is also known that Boit, unaccustomed to sub-zero temperatures, began to peel off his fingernails and toenails on the second day after his arrival.

His career developed, one might say, rapidly. After Nagano, Beut took part in the World Championships in Ramsau where he took an honorable last place, 92nd place in the top ten classics. Then there was the Olympics in Salt Lake City, where Boyt, by a strange coincidence, failed to overcome the qualifying sieve in the sprint tournament. In Turin 2006, a 15-kilometer skate race awaited him, where he finally showed progress, finishing 91st out of 97 participants. At the 2007 World Championships in Sapporo, Boyt showed himself to be a true all-rounder, starting in three diverse races: sprint, duathlon and speed skating, where he also frayed the nerves of the favorites, finishing 112th out of 117 skiers.

So Boit came to Liberec with the most ambitious plans. And they were waiting for him here! Each climb of Philip up the mountain during Sunday's duathlon was accompanied by thunderous applause and the screams of thousands of throats, which in the Czech Republic, if you are at competitions, are not customary to regret. Imagine everyone’s disappointment when Philip unexpectedly retired on the second lap! In search of the truth, an SE special correspondent rushed to the Kenyan skier, who was wandering dejectedly in the vicinity of the route.

- Philip, why did you get off so early?

- I couldn't run anymore. My skis were disgustingly prepared. Snow was constantly sticking to them, and on one of the climbs I even had to stop to clear it off with the point of a stick. Otherwise, I would never have gotten up in my life. I don't know what's going on here. When I was qualifying before the tag race, the skis worked perfectly.

-Who prepared them for you?

- My friends from the Finnish national team. I now want to wait until the end of the race to ask them a series of questions. I don’t want to offend anyone, they are my friends, but I can’t understand why I practically couldn’t move.

- Are you very upset?

- Still would! I will say more - perhaps today I had the worst race of my life. Even when he debuted in Nagano, he performed much better.

-Are you still surprised by how warmly the audience receives you?

- Oh, how they cheered for me today! They get sick much better than I run. Seriously, I am very ashamed that I ran so mediocre in front of their eyes. I also took off because I didn’t want to embarrass myself anymore. I want all these people to whom I am very grateful to have good memories of me.

- You decided to run a 30-kilometer duathlon. Which style do you prefer, classic or skate?

- You ask me as if I were a rising star in the world of skiing. But if you're really interested, I prefer the classics.

- Are you still training in Finland?

- Yes. In the very north of the country. I have friends living there. If it weren't for their help, I wouldn't be here.

- This is your third world championship. Why did you take such a long break between Ramsau 1999 and Sapporo 2007?

- In order to train in Europe, you need funds. Sometimes it takes too much time to find sponsors. When there is no money, I stay in Kenya and just do physical training. And I go skiing for at best one month a year.

- Is it difficult to find a sponsor in Kenya?

- You can’t imagine! Our world has converged on runners. People are practically not interested in everything else. Someday, try to explain to a person from Kenya what the World Ski Championships are. Although first you will need to explain to him what snow is. Many still had never seen him in their lives. But even if a person has seen snow, he simply cannot imagine that he needs to run on it. According to the overwhelming majority of Kenyans, you are all crazy here.

- How do you, Philip, survive in such an atmosphere of financial mistrust?

- The Kenyan Olympic Committee is helping me. That's where people figure out what's what. Let's say this time they paid for my travel, accommodation and food. In general, they support me, they say: “Come on, Philip, the country needs you!” But the problem is that I can't train much on the snow. And a month is not enough to run well. Catastrophically few. You need to spend at least 3-4 months skiing to try to compete with all these guys.

- When will we see the relay ski team from Kenya at the World Championships?

- But you’ll really see it! When I finish running, and this will probably happen after the Olympics in Vancouver, I will start recruiting children for skiing. Now I have a group of guys who run roller skis on the asphalt. I will communicate with my friends from Europe so that they can help take my boys to Europe for training. Without Europe nothing will work. And in 10 - 15 years, we can theoretically put together a strong team.

- In Kenya there is a wonderful high-mountain base in Eldoret, through which all the outstanding Kenyan runners have passed in one way or another. Do you train there?

- Certainly! I live in those parts. You are right, there is not a single serious athlete in Kenya who has not been to Eldoret. I'm not an exception.

- Which Russian skiers of the past and present do you know?

- Danilov, Vyalbe. True, I don’t know whether they are still running or not? Ah, we're done. I also remember my good friend Prokurorov. But he has already finished running, I know that for sure.

- I'm sorry to tell you this, but he died in October.

- Are you kidding! God, he was my friend... I'm so sorry. I've been in Kenya all this time and haven't heard anything. I remember exchanging jerseys with him in Salt Lake City. He was so kind to me. I'm really sorry.

- Philip, you...

-...Excuse me, I think I’ll go indoors. I'm starting to freeze.

Sergey Butov from Liberec,