Snowboarder narrowly misses squirrel in parallel giant slalom

Parallel giant slalom is tricky enough without having to dodge animals on the course while competing.

So you’ve trained for four years, and possibly your entire life, waiting for your chance at snowboarding glory in the Winter Olympics. You are in the middle of competition, making your way down the course in the parallel giant slalom and you have to not only defeat your opponent but dodge something.

A squirrel.

That unlikely scenario played out on Saturday in Pyeongchang for Daniela Ulbing of Austria. Because she missed the squirrel by a whisker (they have those, right?), it’s fine to watch the video and laugh, as we have dozens of times by now.

We have so many questions here. Where the heck did the squirrel come from? Shouldn’t he be sleeping through this part of the winter (yes, we know squirrels don’t hibernate, but they do sleep a lot when it’s coldest)? Did this particular squirrel always dream of being a snowboarder too and just say, “the heck with it, I’m going for it”?

Next: How Norway became our new Winter Olympics overlords

This unusual story from the last full day of competition in the 2018 Winter Olympics has a happy ending for everyone involved, as the squirrel avoided catastrophe and Ulbing won her heat in the parallel giant slalom. Here’s hoping no one else in the competition had to deal with the same unexpected hazard, and that the squirrel learned to stay off the course when the snowboards are on their way down.