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Olympic skier forced to re-do slalom after near-miss on course

Eva Vukadinova of Bulgaria avoids a course worker during her a women’s slalom event at the Winter Olympics on Feb. 9, 2022. (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

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(NEXSTAR) – Olympic alpine skier Eva Vukadinova is voicing her frustrations after a worker left a tool on one of the course’s gates, forcing her to re-do her run.

“I am beyond disappointed and I can’t believe that this happened on the top level sports event like the @olympics,” Vukadinova wrote Wednesday on Instagram.

Vukadinova, of Team Bulgaria, was in the middle of her first slalom run on Wednesday when she noticed — and managed to maneuver around — what she described as a “heavy metal” gate key that was still attached to one of the gates. Video of the incident shows a worker was also standing close by, seemingly waiting to remove the key after Vukadinova passed.

Bulgaria’s Eva Vukadinova maneuvers around a pole that still has a gate key attached. Gate keys are used to help screw down and remove the poles used in the events. (Joe Klamar/AFP via Getty Images)

Vukadinova was ultimately allowed to re-do her run, though she believes her performance suffered because of the previous setback.

“We all know it’s not the same,” she wrote in her Instagram post, explaining that she began her first run with a completely different mindset.

“Anyways, maybe it happened for a reason,” the first-time Olympian added in a later passage. “I am just glad that I didn’t break my legs on that gate. 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.”

Despite the do-over, Vukadinova earned a DNF — or “did not finish” — in the event. She previously finished 36th in the giant slalom on Monday, where she also fractured a bone in her hand.

“I am sad, really sad, but also happy and proud of myself that I was fighting till the end. I will also never get rid of the smile on my face, cause nothing can bring me down,” she wrote after Wednesday’s incident.

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