The two-man Jamaican bobsleigh team came last in their event at the Olympics this week, never the less the country is set to achieve something they haven’t in over two decades.
Nimroy Turgott and Shanwayne Stephens took to the ice on Monday where things didn’t get off to a great start as one of the athletes slipped when starting to push the bobsleigh.
Although they finished last they proved to the world that it’s the taking part that counts.
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Unfortunately, the pair struggled to find a good rhythm throughout the event as one ended up falling on his back which caused them to come last in the first heat.
But all hope isn’t lost, Jamaica will have another shot to slide onto the podium with the four-man event this weekend. This will mark the first time in 24 years a full four-man team will proudly represent Jamaica at the Winter Olympics. Stephens will come back as the pilot of the team that consists of Ashley Watson, Matthew Wekpe and Rolando Reid as breakman.
Jamaica’s bobsleigh federation said that getting the news they had qualified for the Beijing Olympics was ‘an absolutely amazing feeling’.
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Chris Stokes continued: ‘It’s something we’ve all achieved together as a team over the last four years. It means a lot to us, the sport and Jamaica as a whole. It’s a testament to all the hard work of the athletes and coaching staff. The support from the RAF has been magnificent, they gave me the opportunity to go to my first trials and have given me the time to train. I want to thank them for that opportunity,’
Stokes was a member of the 1988 Jamaican bobsleigh team that was the inspiration for the film Cool Runnings, in which you may remember one of the sledge’s blades came loose and fell off in the final race causing it to flip upside down.
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