An Olympic Skier Totally Blew His Shot At A Gold Medal Because Of One 'Silly Mistake'

Jarl Magnus Riiber is living any Olympic athlete's worst nightmare.

The Norwegian biathlete was competing in the Olympics for the first time on Tuesday, and he was 44 seconds ahead of everyone in his cross-country ski race when he made an unbelievable mistake.

He went the wrong way.

Riiber took a wrong turn on the 10-kilometre route and basically killed his chances of winning a gold medal in the biathlon event.

After realizing he was going the wrong way, the Norwegian eventually got back on track and finished in eighth place in the race, although you know that's got to sting his pride.

The 24-year-old labeled the situation as a "silly mistake" afterward.

He added that he spent two weeks in COVID isolation, and that meant he wasn't training or breathing fresh air ahead of his competition.

"My body is not working. Normally, I’m one of the better skiers, and today I was just bad," he said, according to a report by the Guardian.

Riiber, who was unfamiliar with the course, was released from isolation on Monday ahead of his event on Tuesday.

According to the Daily Mail, Riiber was one of the heavy favorites to win Olympic gold, after he won 21 out of the 24 large hill tournaments.

After the race, the athlete stated that he could have been able to fight for the bronze position, but with the aggressively low 20-degree temperatures and two weeks sans preparation for the race — which ultimately led to his error — he believed his gold medal chances are not very high.

Maybe next Olympics?