'Man who won by losing' in Olympics fights to return

LAKE WORTH BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Cross-country skier Roberto Carcelen knows his dream of a return to the Winter Olympics for the 2022 Games in Beijing probably won't happen.'

Realistically, it will be next to impossible for him to qualify. Still, he's going to try.

And the point isn't to win medals, beat a personal best or attain Olympic glory. The part-time Lake Worth Beach resident already made history nine years ago as the first Winter Olympian from Peru. If, somehow, he does qualify, the 48-year-old would be the one of the oldest athletes in the history of Olympic cross-country skiing.

He'd also be the first Olympic athlete to compete with Parkinson's disease.

This isn't the first time Carcelen's mission has been defined by his steely sense of determination in the face of adversity.

In 2014, He was just days away from competing in Sochi when he broke several ribs in a training accident. His doctor told him that in order to heal, he'd have to drop out, which would mean Peru wouldn't be represented in the Games. Ignoring the doctor's orders, Carcelen chose to carry on.

Skiing the 15-kilometer course wasn't easy; he could only use one arm due to his rib injury. To no one's surprise, Carcelen came in last place. But as he neared the end of the race, he veered off course and grabbed a Peruvian flag from a fan, hoisting it high in a scene of Olympic spirit that earned him the title he wears gladly: "The man who won by losing."

Sitting in the sunroom of his Lake Worth Beach home five years later, Carcelen reflects on that career-defining moment with a newfound sense of resolve.

"The point of this was just to create a story. A powerful story," he said. "That no matter what your goals are, you finish it. Once you start something, you have to finish."

—An unlikely...