Jamaica At The Sochi Winter Olympics 2014

01/24/2014 by Markus Hautmann

The Jamaican bobsled team finally made it to the Winter Olympics, to begin on February 07. In the final spurt, so to speak. Last week the International Bobsled Federation FIBT granted the two-man team a wildcard. The last problem was solved this week when the team could raise enough travelling money through pledges on social media and crowd funding. In fact, the campaign on crowd funding website Crowdtilt brought almost 130,000 US$, a sum that exceeds the focused 80,000 US$ by more than 50%.   

It is Jamaica’s fifth participation in an Olympic bobsled tournament since the debut at the Games in Calgary 1988. Though it only finished on rank 30 the team gained worldwide popularity through the Disney movie Cool Runnings which was inspired by the team’s story.

The bobsled team is not Jamaica’s only participant in Sochi. Alpine racer Michael Williams, the “Jamaican Dream Chaser”, still tries to qualify for the alpine tournament. After a severe knee injury he could recover in time but still has not made the final qualification. But chances are good.


Below you can watch the Jamaican Bobsleigh Team debut at Calgary 1988