No Fairytale Finish For Jamaica Bobsleighers Back On The Slopes In Beijing
Shanwayne Stephens and Nimroy Turgott finished rock bottom of the pile in the two-man bobsleigh competition, as Jamaica made their first foray at the Winter Olympics for an astonishing 24 years.
The pair came close to flipping at one stage on the Xiaohaituo Bobsled & Luge Track at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre today (15 February). And because they were so slow they only completed three of the four heats.
Jamaica finished a disappointing 30th overall, after finishing slowest of all the competitors in both the first and third heats at the Beijing Winter Games in China. The Jamaicans failed to make an impressive start, with a near disastrous slip-up as they began to move the bobsleigh. However, they managed to finish Heat 1 with a respectable time of 1 minute 1.23 seconds.
They clocked a slower time in Heat 2 of 1 minute 1.35s yet still finished above Americans Hunter Church and Charlie Volker as well as Brazilians Edson Luques Binidilatti and Edson Ricardo Martins to claim 28th place. The Jamaicans were only 4.20s off the lead at the mid-point of the event. There was, as expected, huge vocal support for Jamaica’s bobsleigh team.
This was because they became world-loved following the hit Disney movie, which was loosely based on the Caribbean underdogs sensationally making it to the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada. Jamaica’s improbable appearance at the Winter Games, with their four-man bobsleigh team, made the film Cool Runnings an overnight sensation.
But like the movie, which at times showed mishaps for the popular Jamaicans, it was not a fairytale ending. Stephens and Turgott clocked the slowest time in Heat 3 of 1 minute 1.54s to miss the cut of the top 20 pairings making it to Heat 4.
The methodical Team Germany swept the medals in the two-man competition to rewrite the history books. This was the first time in the bobsleigh annals that the Olympic medals were all awarded to just one nation.
Francesco Friedrich and Thorsten Margis won gold with a four-run combined time of 3 minutes 56.89s. Their compatriots Johannes Lochner and Florian Bauer settled for silver in 3 minutes 57.38s, with Christoph Hafer and Mattias Sommer claiming bronze in 3 minutes 58.58s.
Chris Stokes, part of the four-man bobsleigh squad that competed at the 1998 Winter Games in Japan and now runs the Jamaica Bobsleigh Federation, ambitiously claimed: “Our big plan for 2026 is to qualify for four events, two teams per event, and to have someone on the podium in 2030.”
After such a lengthy absence in the four-man bobsleigh at the Winter Olympics, Jamaica will return with former RAF sniper Stephens as the pilot. The nation’s team comprises push athletes Ashley Watson and Matthew Wekpe as well as brakeman Rolando Reid. This is the same squad that Stephens has led in each four-man race this season.
Stevens said: “We are a bunch of guys who literally came together for the first time on the 18 September 2021, not by our own fault but the COVID situation and travel restrictions.
“What we have achieved in such a short period of time is a testament to the hard work that everybody has put in.”
Jamaica’s four-man team narrowly failed to qualify for the previous Winter Games, held four years ago in South Korea, because they missed out by one spot in the world rankings.
There are much higher expectations for Jamaica’s four-man squad to make an impact in Beijing than there were for the two-man team. Although simply reaching the Winter Olympics is an amazing achievement considering that the Caribbean island never has snow and does not have any indoor skiing facilities for the nation’s Olympians to practice.
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