Jamaica is sending its four-membered bobsled team to the Winter Olympics for the first time in more than two decades.
On Monday, Jamaica has claimed the final place in the 28-sledge field for the Beijing Olympics, which will begin next month. The nation has also been qualified for the two-man and women’s mono bob events, making it the first time for Jamaica to be eligible for three Olympic bobsled events in a single game.
Meanwhile, it is not yet clear who will represent Jamaica in China, but Shanwayne Stephens has led their four-person team, which includes Ronaldo Reid, Ashley Watson and Matthew Wekpe, during the qualifications. Jazmine Fenltor-Victorian is expected to represent Jamaica in the mono bob, which will be her second Olympics.
The Caribbean region was first qualified for the four-person bobsled during the Calgary Olympics in 1988, which has become an inspiration for the Disney movie, “Cool Runnings.” Jamaica has proceeded with the approach of sending at least one men’s sledger to the following four Winter Games through 2002 and then again at the Sochi Olympics in 2014. It made a remarkable finish by scoring 14th place run at Lillehammer in 1994.
Jamaica hasn’t sent any four-person team to the Olympics since the 1998 games in Nagano. It has sent a team to the Pyeongchang Olympics 2018, but it has missed to fulfil the qualification process by just a single spot. Fenlator-Victorian has earlier represented Jamaica in South Korea in 2018 and has competed for it, which made her the first Jamaican woman to do so.
