Helmet From Jamaica’s 1988 Winter Olympics Team Being Auctioned
Jamaica’s national bobsleigh team captured the attention of the world when they debuted in the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta – Canada.
Unsurprisingly, the Jamaicans were labelled as the underdogs of the tournament, coming from a tropical country.
The team competed in one sport, Bobsledding, in both the two-man and four-man events and finished outside the medal places in both competitions.
Athletes were recruited from the Jamaica Defence Force, which saw Dudley Stokes, Devon Harris and Michael White become the first members of the team.
Caswell Allen was the fourth man, but was injured prior to the start of the Olympics and was replaced by Chris Stokes, who was only in Canada to support his brother and new team-mate Dudley.
The two man event took place first, with Dudley Stokes and White finishing in 30th position overall. American television stations aired footage of the four-man Jamaican team, and despite crashing during the third run and finishing last overall, went on to inspire the 1993 film Cool Runnings.
Now a piece of that history is being auctioned via RR Auction’s website.
A section the helmet’s description via the site states:
“This was the helmet Dudley Stokes wore during the Olympics and bares the scratch marks from the famous crash when he could not get his head and helmet back in the sled. Once the guys started using the new helmets, the old ones were never used again.”
The current bid for the helmet is $330, but the website estimates that it will sell for around $3,500. View auction HERE
Check out this feature on Jamaica’s original bobsleigh team.
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