Faisal Faisal

Faisal Ghazi Faisal ( _ar. فيصل غازي فيصل) is a winter sports athlete who hoped to represent Iraq in the 2006 Winter Olympics. He studies business management at the Sydney campus of Central Queensland University.

ummer sports background

Faisal was an elite soccer player in Iraq, and a regional champion in the 200 meter sprint. Talib Faisal, his uncle, still holds the 400 meter Iraq record.

Winter sports history

*He vowed in 1998 to represent Iraq at the Winter Olympics. He applied unsuccessfully for a visa to the United Kingdom, Canada and Ireland, coming instead to Australia to pursue winter sports. [http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/sleuths-erase-online-past/2006/11/08/1162661745901.html Sleuths erase online past] Sydney Morning Herald, November 9 2006] He has tried a variety of sports.

On weekends in Australia, where he was studying, he practiced skiing and then snowboarding

He tried speed skating, but was told he would not be able to represent Iraq because the country had no ice rinks.

In September 2004 he considered ski jumping but a coach rejected to help him.

In November 2004 he called the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation hoping to participate in skeleton, which invited him to Lake Placid.

Faisal narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 2006 Winter Olympics after missing half of the Olympic season because of administrative challenges. [http://www.nbcolympics.com/olympiczone/5088712/detail.html]

Results

Skeleton:

2004/05

* 32nd out of 37 finishers in January 29, 2005 America's Cup race 1 at Lake Placid [http://www.skeletonsport.com/results/?eventid=627&highlightid=1619#1619]
* 30th out of 37 finishers in January 30, 2005 America's Cup race 2 at Lake Placid [http://www.skeletonsport.com/results/?eventid=628&highlightid=1619#1619]

2005/06

* 21st out of 23 finishers in November 3, 2005 America's Cup race 1 at Lake Placid [http://www.skeletonsport.com/results/?eventid=793&highlightid=1619#1619]
* 20th out of 23 finishers in November 4, 2005 America's Cup race 2 at Lake Placid [http://www.skeletonsport.com/results/?eventid=796&highlightid=1619#1619]

* 14th out of 29 finishers in Jan 2006 CC Konigssee #1 Challenge Cup [http://www.skeletonsport.com/results/?eventid=715&highlightid=1619#1619]
* 22nd out of 29 finishers in Jan 2006 CC Konigsee #2 Challenge Cup [http://www.skeletonsport.com/results/?eventid=716&highlightid=1619#1619]

2007/08
* 27th out of 29 finishers in Apr 4, 2008 Lake Placid America's Cup [http://fibt.com/index.php?id=63&event=16370&L=0]
* 28th out of 29 finishers in Apr 5, 2008 Lake Placid America's Cup [http://fibt.com/index.php?id=63&event=16374&L=0]

External articles

*http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/27/sports/othersports/27ski.html
*http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/winter/2005-01-30-iraqi-skeleton_x.htm
*http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/20050112-1348-oly-iraqi-winterolympics.html
*http://olympics.about.com/b/a/000004.htm
*http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/stories/indepth.shtml?/story/olympics/national/2006/02/17/Sports/faisal_faisal060217.html
*http://english.people.com.cn/200601/27/eng20060127_238793.html

*Negative coverage:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5017-2005Jan12.html

References

External links

*http://www.nociraq.org/index_e.php National Olympic Committee of Iraq
*http://www.aliraqi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=51553 Aliraqi.org discussion on Faisal's journey