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"World's Worst Skier" Actually Is Very Bad, but He's Got a Good Excuse

Venezuelan skier Adrian Solano had never skied on snow before. Instead, he practiced on wheels.

The French didn't get their reputation for being surly and rude for no reason. Look at what they did to this poor Venezuelan skier.

Adrian Solano was just trying to make his connection through France to Sweden last month for training but French border agents wouldn't let him through. They sent him back. They couldn't believe that he was actually a professional skier.

Now, look, he actually is. He may be really bad at skiing, but he's not lying. Solano was dubbed the "world's worst skier" after his performance in the Nordic World Ski Championships in Finland this month. It was embarrassing and kind of sad. But he finished!

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Solano had never skiied on snow before. He practiced by skiing on wheels. That's what he told the border agents.

"They did not believe that I ski in Venezuela," he told Agence France Press.

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

Solano was deported after a few days and told that skiing doesn't even exist in Venezuela. Understandably, this set off fuses back home.

On Wednesday, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez fired off a tweet that said, "Following instructions by @PresidentMaduro we will deliver a strong protest to the French government for the affront against the Venezuelan athlete."

In another tweet, she added that "the insult against Venezuelans is absolutely unacceptable."

Venezuela is in the midst of an economic crisis, that is true, but it was still cold-blooded to mock and kick out Solano. It's also a nice piece of propaganda for President Nicolas Maduro to use to blame the haters and the outside world for conspiring against his country.