Olympics

Bulgarian skier Eva Vukadinova slams 2022 Olympics after course worker derails run

Bulgarian Alpine skier Eva Vukadinova had a bone to pick with 2022 Olympic officials after a course worker forced her to redo her second run in the women’s slalom on Wednesday.

The course worker interrupted Vukadinova over equipment that was left on the slopes. During her first run, the Bulgarian spotted the course worker by a gate. A gate key – a tool used to make sure the course’s poles are in place – was not removed prior to the event. This has the potential to cause skiers to lose their balance and momentum and inflict serious injuries.

The 20-year-old claimed that even though she had the chance to redo her run, the experience was not the same and partially contributed to why she didn’t place.

“I STILL CANNOT BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED TODAY,” Vukadinova wrote on her Instagram. “First of all, a lot of emotions are going through me right now. I cannot even describe what I felt after that first run. I thought ‘Why me?’, ‘Why didn’t that happen to any of the top 30 girls?, ‘Could that even happen to any of them?’, ‘Is that even fair?’.”

Vukadinova added that she believes that she did not get fair treatment from the Olympics and that having to do the run over again ruined her flow.

“Yes sure, I come from a small ski nation compared to others competing today, but I will speak my mind up. Although that ‘I got my re-run’, we all know it’s not the same,” she continued. “Not when you have to ski down to the chair lift, go up, go down the start (with my race ski) and start almost immediately. Sure, I may be not a top level skier or fighting for the podium, but I also worked a lot to get here!!! Don’t I at least deserve the same CHANCE like everyone else?” she wrote.

Eva Vukadinova
Eva Vukadinova was derailed by a course worker. AFP via Getty Images

“I am beyond disappointed and I can’t believe that this happened on the top level sports event like the Olympics.” 

Vukadinova — who is currently suffering from a fractured hand from a previous injury — mentioned that she was thankful that she didn’t “break my legs on that gate.”


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“One thing is to be on course to fix something, other thing is to leave a heavy metal like that on the gate. And on top of that to pretend that it’s completely normal.” 

In the women’s slalom event, Petra Vlhova will be taking a gold medal back to Slovakia. American Mikaela Shiffrin, a favorite in the competition, did not medal after her own troubles with the course. Fellow American Nina O’Brien fractured her leg after a frightening tumble during the women’s giant slalom.