LAHTI, FINLAND – FEBRUARY 23: Adrian Solano of Venezuela crashes in the Men’s 1.6KM Cross Country Sprint qualification round on February 23, 2017 in Lahti, Finland. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Venezuelan athlete Adrian Solano wanted to be a skier, despite the fact that his country sits in the tropics. Its one ski resort appears to have shut down.

So Solano has had to train on skis with wheels. He used that experience to earn a spot in the Lahti 2017 winter sports event in Finland. He was supposed to train in Sweden for a month before the games, but he was deported because French officials didn’t believe that he was actually a skier.

“When I got to Paris on 19 January, I explained that I was on my way to Sweden to train. They did not believe that I ski in Venezuela.

“I told them that we train on wheels. I only had 28 euros with me and the police accused me of trying to immigrate because things were going badly in my country.

“I missed a month of practice on the snow. But I am still trying because this is my dream.”

So Solano arrived in Finland having never seen snow before, much less skied on it. Nevertheless, he gave it a try. It didn’t go well, as Solano wasn’t able to finish the race and struggled to even start.

“Worst skier alive” might be a bit harsh, since Solano has trained on wheels before and could probably be good at it if he ever got the chance to ski on snow. Hopefully he’ll get a chance to train in the snow and will be back out there again. He had a good attitude about it all.

[BBC]

About Kevin Trahan

Kevin mostly covers college football and college basketball, with an emphasis on NCAA issues and other legal issues in sports. He is also an incoming law student. He's written for SB Nation, USA Today, VICE Sports, The Guardian and The Wall Street Journal, among others. He is a graduate of Northwestern University.