Adrian Solano of Venezuela had never trained on snow before.

He had never even seen snow until he arrived at the Lahti 2017 Nordic World Ski Championships in Finland. According to BBC, Solano spent his time in Venezuela training on wheels. He traveled to France in January with the intention of going to Sweden to learn to ski on snow, but he was deported because French officials did not believe he was skier.

Remarkably, with no on-snow training, Solano made it to Finland and competed in a cross country skiing qualifier this week. He struggled … mightily.

The catastrophic performance turned Solano into an internet joke. He was dubbed “The world’s worst skier,” but he still pushed through the 10-km individual race.

Through all that, Solano’s attitude remained an inspiration. He posted to Instagram a message of positivity.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQ1-Cn4hp3z/

He wrote (translated from Spanish):

Even though I didn’t know snow and didn’t get the opportunity to train here, I’m giving it my best. And well, even the mighty have fallen like I have but got back up and kept fighting. I don’t plan on being the exception.

Well said.