Jamaica to have four-man bobsled team at Winter Olympics for the first time in 24 years
The Beijing Olympics will be the first time that Team Jamaica will participate in three different bobsled events
By
Chris Bengel
•
1 min read
For the first time in 24 years, Jamaica will be sending a four-man bobsled team to the Winter Olympics. On Monday, Team Jamaica announced that they qualified for the event along with two others -- the two-man bobsled and women's monobob.
It marks the first time that Jamaica has qualified for three different bobsled events.
BREAKING:
— Team Jamaica (@TeamJA876) January 17, 2022
JAMAICA, WE HAVE A BOBSLED TEAM HEADING TO BEIJING! 📣
It will be fire on ice as #TeamJamaica 🇯🇲 secured their spot at the 2022 Beijing #WinterOlympics. This will be the 1st time JAM has qualified in 3 Olympic bobsled events: four-man, two-man and women’s monobob pic.twitter.com/hRd5h7lDlG
Jamaica announced the news on Twitter, but didn't reveal which athletes would be competing on the four-man bobsled team. However, Shanwayne Stephens, who is a lance corporal in the Royal Air Force, is likely to be a member of the team as he tweeted "We made it" shortly after the official announcement.
Jamaica made its Winter Olympics debut with a four-man bobsled team back in 1988 in Calgary. That historic team ended up inspiring the popular 1993 movie "Cool Runnings."
The last time that Jamaica had an Olympic boblsed team came at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. In the 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2014 Winter Olympics, Jamaica did participate in two-man bobsled events. Jamaica's two-woman bobsled team competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
On Monday, China announced that they wouldn't be selling tickets to the general public for the 2022 Winter Olympics due to a rising number of COVID-19 cases around the country.
