For the first time in more than 20 years, Jamaica has a four-man bobsled team to send to the Olympic games.
Team Jamaica announced on Twitter that it had qualified for the 4-man bobsled team and two other bobsled events.
BREAKING:
— Team Jamaica (@TeamJA876) January 17, 2022
JAMAICA, WE HAVE A BOBSLED TEAM HEADING TO BEIJING! 📣
It will be fire on ice as #TeamJamaica 🇯🇲 secured their spot at the 2022 Beijing #WinterOlympics. This will be the 1st time JAM has qualified in 3 Olympic bobsled events: four-man, two-man and women’s monobob pic.twitter.com/hRd5h7lDlG
The last time Jamaica had a four-man team in the bobsled was the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan, but it was the country’s Winter Olympics debut with the team at the 1988 Calgary Games that inspired the movie “Cool Runnings,” CBS News reported.
The team in 1988 raced having only practiced a few times in the month prior and then crashed during the race, flipping the sled and having to push it to the finish line. The team shook hands with fans, and then left the track, never imagining their story would grow to catch Hollywood’s attention.
Jamaica had at least one men’s team qualify for each Olympics from 1988 to 2002, but then did not make another appearance until 2014, Sports Illustrated reported. A women’s team qualified in 2018 in South Korea. The highest Olympic finish for a Jamaican men’s bobsled team is 14th place, NBC News reported.
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