Bulgaria's snowboarding hope Alexandra Jekova, who was tipped for one of the few gold medals for the country at the Winter Olympic Games at Vancouver, has been forced to quit the competition due to injury.

Jekova, 22, was injured during the second training race before the start of the border-cross competition. She took part in the first competition race, but fell and hardly managed to get to the final. Prior to the start of the second race Alexandra was rushed to the hospital of the Olympic village.

“The whole competition went wrong – the trainings, the conditions, the start of the races – everything is wrong. This is some kind of war, there is no fun,” Jekova complained, citing the injuries that other snowboarders suffered at this location.

Bulgaria will be represented at the snowboarder races by Ivan Ranchev, who managed to win a last-minute quota for the Olympic Games. Ranchev will join the parallel giant slalom, which will take place on the last day of the forum – February 27.

In the 2010 winter Olympics medal count Germany leads with three gold medals, four silver medals and two bronze medals. Germany ties with South Korea and Switzerland for the gold. The United States follows with eight medals, two gold, two silver, and four bronze. The United States, France, Canada, and Sweden each have two gold medals.

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