Jamaica at the 1988 Winter Olympics
Jamaica at the 1988 Winter Olympics | |
---|---|
IOC code | JAM |
NOC | Jamaica Olympic Association |
Website | www |
in Calgary | |
Competitors | 4 (men) in 1 sport |
Flag bearer | Dudley Stokes[1] |
Medals |
|
Winter Olympics appearances ( overview) | |
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.
Background
The Jamaica Olympic Association was formed in 1936,
Competitors
The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.[5]
Sport | Men | Women | Total |
---|---|---|---|
Bobsleigh | 4 | – | 4 |
Total | 4 | 0 | 4 |
Bobsleigh
With funding provided by Fitch and the Jamaica Tourist Board, training was conducted in Canada and Austria in preparation for the 1988 Winter Olympics. Sepp Haidacher was recruited as a coach, and the team began to be featured in North American media with a comical angle. An agreement was reached with the Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing in order to allow for entrance in both the four-man and the two-man events at the Games.[7] Once in Calgary, the team conducted test runs on a frozen lake in order to get used to the conditions, but Allen fell and was injured.[9] Chris Stokes, who was only in Canada in order to support his brother Dudley, was added to the four-man team three days before the first run having never been in a bobsleigh before.[8]
The first event which Jamaica competed in was the two-man bobsleigh, where Dudley Stokes and Michael White became Jamaica's first Winter Olympians.
Following the elimination of the United States ice hockey team, American television stations needed to fill airtime and chose to focus on the Jamaican bobsleigh team in the four-man event.[7] The first run ended poorly, as when Dudley Stokes jumped into the bobsleigh, the push-bar in the sleigh broke,[8] resulting in the team coming in third from last in 24th place.[15] On their second attempt, the team ranked second to last, due in part to White struggling to crouch down properly in his seat, remaining almost upright through the first corner.[7][16]
It was the events of the third run for which the team became best known. Stokes injured his shoulder prior to the race, but decided to continue with the run. The team set the seventh-fastest start for all competitors. At the turn called the "Kreisel", Stokes lost control of the bobsleigh and it careened into the wall of the track, and flipped over on top of the four athletes.[7] The four team members climbed out and the bobsleigh was pushed to the end of the track by support staff while the team walked alongside it.[8] The team did not compete in the fourth run of the event,[17] and subsequently were listed as not finishing the event and therefore were placed in the last place overall.[18]
Sled | Athletes | Event | Run 1 | Run 2 | Run 3 | Run 4 | Total | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | |||
JAM | Michael White
|
Two-man | 1:00.20 | 34 | 1:00.56 | 22 | 1:01.87 | 31 | 1:01.23 | 30 | 4:03.86 | 30 |
JAM | Michael White, Chris Stokes
|
Four-man | 58.04 | 24 | 59.37 | 25 | 1:03.19 | 26 | DNF | – | DNF | – |
Legacy
The story of the Jamaican bobsleigh team at the 1988 Winter Olympics was turned into the 1993 movie Cool Runnings.[7] However, the film was only loosely based on actual events, with real-life coach Pat Brown later saying that the team had never experienced any of the animosity from the other teams as depicted in the movie.[8]
All of the team members returned for the
References
- OlyMADMen. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
- ^ "Jamaica". Olympic.org. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
- ^ a b "Jamaica". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 1 September 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
- ^ "Fact box - West Indies". BBC Caribbean. 7 August 2008. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
- ^ Jamaica at the 1988 Winter Olympics
- ^ Nick Atkins (5 Feb 2014). "The Real Cool Runnings". ESPN.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Crashing Start". Jamaica Bobsleigh Team. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- ^ a b c d e Knowles, Ed (14 February 2021). "Jamaican bobsleigh team 1988 and the movie Cool Runnings: All you need to know". olympics.com. Retrieved 10 Mar 2022.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
- ^ "Bobsleigh at the 1988 Calgary Winter Games: Men's Two Run 1". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- ^ "Bobsleigh at the 1988 Calgary Winter Games: Men's Two Run 2". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- ^ "Bobsleigh at the 1988 Calgary Winter Games: Men's Two Run 3". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- ^ "Bobsleigh at the 1988 Calgary Winter Games: Men's Two Run 4". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- ^ "Bobsleigh at the 1988 Calgary Winter Games: Men's Two". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- ^ "Bobsleigh at the 1988 Calgary Winter Games: Men's Four Run 1". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- ^ "Bobsleigh at the 1988 Calgary Winter Games: Men's Four Run 2". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- ^ "Bobsleigh at the 1988 Calgary Winter Games: Men's Four Run 4". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- ^ "Bobsleigh at the 1988 Calgary Winter Games: Men's Four". Sport-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- ^ "Jamaica Bobsleigh at the 1992 Albertville Winter Games". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 3 January 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
- ^ "Jamaica Bobsleigh at the 1998 Nagano Winter Games". Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 4 January 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
External links