Thirty years
after the nation's fabled debut in Calgary, Jamaica are sending their first
women's bobsleigh team to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang next month.
Jazmine
Fenlator, who was a member of the United States team four years ago in Sochi,
will pilot the Jamaican sled having switched to the country of her father's
birth in 2015.
Fenlator
will be joined by brakewoman Carrie Russell, a former world athletics relay
gold medallist.
Cool
Runnings was inspired by the Jamaican men's bobsleigh team who competed at the
1988 Winter Olympics +5
They will be
targeting a top-10 finish after coming seventh in the Winterberg World Cup last
month.
Jamaica's
exploits in 1988 inspired the hit movie 'Cool Runnings' and turned its
bobsleigh squad into cult heroes.
The men's
team went on to participate in five of seven subsequent Games, but will not be
represented in Pyeongchang.
Jamaica
Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation president Chris Stokes told the Jamaica
Gleaner: 'Jamaica was offered a quota allocation spot for women's bobsleigh,
which we have gladly accepted.
'They had a
difficult time in Germany (in the first race this year). We did not get a good
result. But we made adjustments and came back and had a very strong performance
in San Moritz, which set us up.
'This is the
30th anniversary of the first team to qualify in 1988, and we are glad to have
a women's team qualify, and we expect them to do well.'
Stokes was a
member of the men's team which famously overturned on their fourth and final
run down the Olympic track in Calgary.
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