Manfred Oettl Reyes, who was born in Munich to a German father and Peruvian mother and trains in Austria, said "he chose to represent Peru because it was harder to make the German team and because 'it sounds more special and cool to say I ski for Peru.'

The teenager's custom-made racing suit featured llamas and Inca designs. A Peruvian fan started a Facebook group called 'Peruvians in Vancouver' and Oettl Reyes was proud to say he has 300 fans following him. He admitted he was awestruck upon seeing ski stars Benjamin Raich, Aksel Svindal, Carlo Janka and Bode Miller.
'Those are guys I see only on TV, and to be only a few metres from them was amazing,' he said. 'When I crossed the finish, I thought, "Wow, I just did the same run those other guys did." '

In fact, he joked, 'I'm better than Bode Miller,' because he completed the two-run race [the grand slalom] while the American triple-medalist missed a gate and did not finish. But not all went well for the teen.

'I lost my ski pole somewhere around the 10th gate, and that is very unprofessional,' he said, smiling. 'I must go back up and search for it.' "

"Peru has mountains and snow, but children don't grow up snowboarding or bobsledding or skiing.

One problem, Carcelen said, is the snow is at too high of an elevation.

'It's pretty crazy up there,' he said. 'I don't think cross-country skiing will work. That will kill you.'

Another problem: Carcelen believes Peruvians can be too laid back.

'We take a different approach to life,' he said. "We kind of like living life in a good way. With sports, we're not like other cultures. We like food, wine and partying. We have an active community, but we like all things.' "