A Venezuelan in Sochi (Important Updates)

Believe it or not, Venezuela will be present in the 2014 Winter Olympics: 43-year old Alpine Skier Antonio Pardo will be the fifth Venezuelan ever to compete in...

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Believe it or not, Venezuela will be present in the 2014 Winter Olympics: 43-year old Alpine Skier Antonio Pardo will be the fifth Venezuelan ever to compete in any Winter Olympic Games, after qualifying for Sochi weeks ago in Switzerland.

But Mr. Pardo has undeniably left his mark during his brief appereance in the parade of nations. Here’s a glimpse. Bf4t1XBCUAAam16.jpg large

A completely unexpected moment (besides a certain technical glitch), yet a very emotional one. After all, Mr. Pardo’s life story hasn’t been easy: He survived a cancerous brain tumour at age eight and then learned to walk again. Felicidades y buena suerte, Antonio!

Credit of the picture used in this post belongs to CBC News Network’s correspondent Sarah Galashan.

UPDATE # 1: According to Alek Boyd and others, Mr. Pardo is not quite the feel-good story we made him out to be. Turns out he allegedly has links to Antonini Wilson and the suitcase scandal. State news media is falsely reporting he won a gold medal.

UPDATE # 2: And the whole cancer thing was not true. The World was duped and so was I. Johnny Rotten said it better.