Jamaica national bobsleigh team

The Jamaican bobsled team took in Calgary in 1988 for the first time at the Olympic Winter Games in part. Ridiculed by many winter sports nations, the Jamaicans still managed to qualify to participate in the Olympic competitions in bobsleigh.

Foundation

Devon Harris, one of the members of the team in 1988, later said about the founding of the team: "The idea for this team had two Americans, George Fitch and William Maloney, who had business in Jamaica and a soapbox derby saw. They thought it looked like a bobsled race, lacking the ice. Since the start in the race is such an important part, and there are many sprinters in Jamaica, they thought, to recruit some athletes to the Summer Games, but they were not enthusiastic about the idea. So they came to the army and studied there the team together. "

The first team consisted of:

  • Devon Harris ( lieutenant in the third battalion of the Jamaican army)
  • Dudley Stokes (Captain of the Jamaican Air Force )
  • Michael White ( Reservist )
  • Samuel Clayton ( railway engineer)

Olympic games

The team had to fight in the Olympic year 1988 with many accidents and technical difficulties, but showed greatly improved in 1992 in Albertville. We made ​​it to 14th place in the four-man and had teams from the USA, France and Russia behind. The team of the two-man bob even reached the 10th place. The team continued to improve, winning several medals at junior events. Among other things, it gained gold in the start-up world championships 2000 in Monte Carlo, where it was all about the pure Anschiebezeiten.

At the games in Salt Lake City in 2002, the team of Mark Hill, Lascelles Brown, Garnett Jones, Stewart Maxwell, Clive McDonald, Wayne Thomas, Dudley Stokes and Captain Winston Watts was. In the two-man standing at the end, although only the disappointing 28th place to book, but managed Watt and Brown, set up a start record. The team of ladies consisted of Porscha Morgan, Winsome Cole, Taniesha LCLEAN and Dukelyn Barrett. The Jamaican Bobsled Team trained in Evanston, Wyoming. Their motto is " The Hottest Thing on Ice" ( The Hottest on the ice ).

Jamaica has participated in all Olympic Games from 1988 to 2002. At the Games in Turin 2006, the Jamaican team was not at the start. Lascelles Brown, who brakeman from the team of 2002, but won along with Pierre Lueders in the two- silver for Canada. The Winter Games of Vancouver 2010 took place without Jamaican bobsleigh team, but the island by Errol Kerr was represented for the first time in a skiing discipline.

At the Olympic Winter Games 2014 in Sochi, Russia went for the first time after twelve year break a bobsleigh team for Jamaica at the start: The now 46 -year-old pilot Winston Watts and his brakeman Marvin Dixon could, although lying only ranked 39 in the world rankings, one of 30 launch sites secure a replacement candidate for the Zweierbobwettbewerb. In Olympic competition the Jamaican bobsleigh finished in 29th place; he let that alone the Bob from Serbia behind him, who had been lying in the first two races immediately before Jamaica, but for the third round no longer took.

Filmography

Disney produced a successful feature film called Cool Runnings about the part in the Olympics in 1988, which has a fictional story about the first -appearance of a Jamaican bobsled team in the Olympics to content.

Others

The Wok WM 2004 in Innsbruck, the team took part in the four-man wok and finished fourth in 2014, she won the Wok World Cup in Berchtesgaden the gold medal in four-man wok.

Winter Olympic Games Evanston (Wyoming)
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