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The Jamaican Bobsled Team first gained fame during its debut in the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is also well known from its portrayal in the 1993 film Cool Runnings, loosely based on its exploits in the 1988 Winter Olympics.
Origins
George B. Fitch and William Maloney, Americans with family and business ties to Jamaica, were largely responsible for the founding of the Jamaican Bobsled Team. During a visit to the island they witnessed a pushcart derby and realized that pushcart racing is very similar to bobsledding.[1]
Since bobsledding requires a fast start, Maloney and Fitch decided to use sprinters, who are plentiful on the island nation of Jamaica. They originally tried to recruit Olympic-class sprinters, but found little interest, so they presented their idea to Colonel Ken Barnes of the Jamaican military.[1]
The first four members of the Jamaican bobsled team were:
- Devon Harris, a lieutenant in the Second Battalion, Jamaica Regiment
- Dudley Stokes, a captain from the JDF Air Wing
- Michael White, a private in the National Reserves
- Samuel Clayton, a railway engineer
They were coached by American Howard Siler, a native of Malone, New York.
Olympics
The Jamaican four-man bobsled team debuted at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta. There they quickly became a fan favorite largely because of their status position as the ultimate 'underdog' story of the games. Not only was there the novelty of having a tropical country compete in a cold-weather sport, but they had very little practice going down a bobsled track before, and they borrowed spare sleds from other countries to compete. In a show of worldly brotherhood, other bobsledders were quick to give them guidance and support. They did not officially finish after losing control of the sled and crashing during one of their four runs. However, they showed significant improvement throughout the games and impressed observers with some fast starts. After crashing, they famously got out of their sled and walked with it to the finish line to great applause.[2] This team was the inspiration for a major motion picture, Cool Runnings featuring John Candy as the team's coach. The characters in the film are fictional, although the original footage of the crash is used during the film. The film's depiction of the post-crash rescue was changed to show the bobsledders carrying the sled over the line on their shoulders for dramatic effect.
The team returned to the Olympics in the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, but finished poorly.[3][4] They qualified again for the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. There, the Jamaican four sled stunned many of their critics by finishing in 14th place, ahead of the United States, Russia, France and one sled from Italy.[5]
In 2000, the Jamaicans won the gold medal at the World Push Championships in Monaco.[6]
The Jamaican Bobsled Team failed to qualify for both the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada.
Team lineup
Previous
In subsequent years after their initial success, the Jamaican Bobsled Team consisted of:
| Position |
Teammate |
| Captain/Driver |
Innes Sandy |
| Braker |
Thomas Wayne |
| Clive McDonald |
| Skeleton |
Ricky Simms |
| Manager |
Stephen Fisher |
Current
The current team consists of:[7]
| Position |
Teammate |
| Pusher |
Marvin Dixon |
| Driver |
Hannukah Wallace |
| Braker |
Joel Alexander |
| Skeleton |
Suzie Kendall |
See also
Notes
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