Olympic quest: an athlete's attempt to become the first Iraqi to compete in the Winter Games.

High in New York State's Adirondak Mountains, deep in snow-covered pine forests, Faisel Ghazi Faisel of Baghdad works and waits to make his contribution to his war-torn homeland. He does it on an icy chute a mile long, his face inches from the surface as he rides a sled not much bigger than a cafeteria tray at 70 miles an hour.

Though Faisel, 24, has virtually no experience with winter sports, he is on a mission to become the first Iraqi to participate in the 81-year-old Winter Olympic Game--something he sees as a small, but symbolic, achievement.

After considering everything from skiing to speed skating, Faisel, who played soccer in Iraq, has settled on skeleton, the head-first rush down the same banked, twisting track used for bobsledding.

"When your country has been invaded, I don't care what your politics, you eel defeated," says Faisel. "Our people need something to feel part of the world again. I want to carry the Iraq flag into the 2006 Olympic stadium in Italy."

Until late last year, Faisel's Olympic quest had been fruitless, even desperate. Raised in Iraq, he had spent the past several years in college in Australia, where he started making dedicated, if unsophisticated, attempts to learn how to ski, skate, ski jump, and snowboard.

HELP FROM THE U.S.

Faisel, who had yet to compete in or show aptitude for any winter sport, says he appealed for help from the Iraqi Olympic Committee and other Olympic-level sports federations in a handful of countries, but they offered little aid.

When the Iraqi war began in 2003, Faisel temporarily lost contact with his parents, who supported him financially, and he got news that his best friend had been killed.

"Things just started to get worse and worse for me," says Faisel. "I was broke and in debt. For a while, I slept in the street."

He had not abandoned his Olympic dream, but he did not know where to turn.

"As a last resort, I decided I would call the United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation," he says. "The U.S. was the last place I expected to help me. I was surprised. They said to me, 'If you come to Lake Placid [where the U.S. skeleton team trains], we will try to help you.'"

Skeleton had been recommended to Faisel by an athlete friend in Australia, because as a relatively new sport--it was sanctioned by the Olympics in 2002--it seemed more realistic that he might be able to make the jump from beginner to high-level competitor.

So, in January, Faisel settled into life in Lake Placid, N.Y., where he trained for two months and made his first skeleton run down one of the ice-laden tracks.

'A BIG GRIN ON HIS FACE'

In a similar winter event, the luge, racers go down feet first. In the skeleton, the head, arms, and shoulders lead the way.

"When someone takes that first trip, I know that at the bottom, they'll either be smiling or crying," says Steve Peters, a coach for the U.S. national skeleton team. "When Faisel got there he had a big grin on his face and asked when he could do it again."

Within three days, Faisel was taking runs from the top of the track, reaching speeds up to 70 mph.

It's been a learning experience for the American athletes. He has been welcomed with open arms," says Terry Kent, director of the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation. Our athletes have had this great opportunity to exchange ideas and learn, to say, 'So what's it like over there?'"

Faisel expected to have discussions about the Iraq war in Lake Placid. "I have no anti-American feelings," Faisel says. "It's a hard time for Iraq.... I just want us to be a normal country again."

After just three weeks of training, Faisel competed in the first race of his career. On January 29, the day before Iraq's election, he finished 32nd in a field of 37 competitors in the America's Cup, an international skeleton race.

Faisel's bid to qualify for the Turin Olympics, which begin Feb. 10, 2006, could be a complicated and politically charged process. The most common way to qualify--World Cup rankings and top challenge-race finishes--are not very likely options for Faisel, who is pressed for time and still fairly inexperienced. Faisel's best chance may be as a wild-card entry chosen by the International Olympic Committee.

Whatever the outcome, Faisel smiles at the thought of his future. "This seemed so unrealistic to the people around me two months ago," he says. "Obviously, it's still not going to be easy. But I remember the feeling when our Iraqi athletes marched into the Athens Games. It was powerful. I don't want us to wait four more years to feel it again."