1988 jamaican bobsled team crash injuries 1988 jamaican bobsled team crash injuries

Did the Jamaican bobsled team walk across the finish line? Sprinting downhill on ice is hard enough, he said, and then you have another mile of hurdling down this icy shoot, which is plain terrifying.. The team went spinning down the track at 85 mph and crashed. They won't be any more comedy movies about Jamaica in the Winter Olympics. Jamaican Bobsled Team Devon Harris, Dudley Stokes, Michael White and Samuel Clayton of the Jamaican four-man bobsled team crash out of the Bobsleigh Fours event on Feb. 28, 1988 during the XV . He said his injury was bad but that he was OK. 3:25 pm ET, 2023 Santa Felipe Stakes odds, horse racing picks, 2023 Fountain of Youth Stakes odds, horse racing picks, 2023 Gotham Stakes odds, horse racing picks, best bets, Olivia Dunne promotes AI homework tool; LSU responds, 2023 Kentucky Derby horses, futures picks, best bets, Where every state stands on legalizing sports betting, Howard Siler, first Jamaican bobsled coach, dies at age 69, NFL Combine: Grading top QBs, plus winners, losers, CBB winners, losers: Jayhawks routed in finale, Ranking 10 best NFL landing spots for QB Richardson, NBA investigating video of Morant brandishing a gun, Mbappe nets record-breaking goal in PSG win, What Tar Heels must do to secure NCAA tourney bid, Swimmer Ledecky loses first race on American soil in nine years. In a show of worldly brotherhood, other countries offered support and . The Jamaicans took home the gold . Hospital, where Dr. Andrew Dodds, the attending physician, took over his care. Got on a bobsled shortly thereafter and that February, we were in the Olympics." And while the bobsled team's chance at Olympic gold was ended by a crash, it wasn't as glamorous as it seemed on screen. Investigation prompts missing persons policy change, Effects linger from wrongful accusation in Norfolk, https://scorestream.com/apiJsCdn/widgets/embed.js, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. "That (crash) was the lowest point of the experience at that moment, and then they just lifted us up again,'' Harris said about the crowd. Derice Bannock becomes inspired to form a four-man bobsleigh team after coming across Irving Blitzer, an American bobsledder who was disqualified for cheating in the 1972 Winter Olympics. Anyone can read what you share. Jamaica subsequently entered teams at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France and in the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway, where its 4-man team finished in 14th place ahead of teams from the U.S., Russia, France, and Canada. Sisson, who is now a teacher and the strength and conditioning coach for the Morgan High School football team, was 21 when he crashed, and he hardly competed afterward. The Legendary 1988 Jamaican Bobsled Team.at videotri. Without the crew, the minimum weight for a sled is 375 pounds for two-man and 463 pounds for four-man. However Fitch was quick to stop them in their tracks. John Barnes told ITV: I was the son of diplomatic military attache, and my father was instrumental in the Jamaican bobsled team. The idea seemed ridiculous, "but I tried my darndest and made the team", says Harris, who had found a way to become an Olympian after all as well as a new passion. Press forward and do what you can with what you have, and miracles can occur.. The sled flipped, and Sisson slid hundreds of yards more, his head wedged between the wall and the 400-pound sled, until the sled finally slowed in the finish area. He was only 58 . ", The team that inspired the film Cool Runnings, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Bobsleigh and Skeleton Australia was established in 2013 to govern the sports of bobsleigh and skeleton within Australia. In the film, three runners representing Jamaica failed to qualify for the 1988 Summer Olympics after one of them stumbled, knocking the two others down during the 100-meter race. The Jamaica national bobsleigh team represents Jamaica in international bobsleighing competitions. No one has ever doubted Jamaicas ability to field world-class athletes, but the names of Devon Harris, Dudley Stokes, Michael White and Nelson Stokes have gone down in the annals of sports history as icons of determination and inspiration. CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc. Commissioner.com is a registered trademark of CBS Interactive Inc. site: media | arena: general | pageType: stories | Biden surveys Ida cleanup in, Hampton City Schools hosting in-person teacher job, Portion of Jeanne St in VB closing over the weekend, US men accused of selling aviation equipment to Russia, Alex Murdaugh sentenced to life in prison for murders, Former Trump ICE director on border separations:, Youngkin responds to resignation of top education, NPS shares surprising advice for bear encounters, Manchin on Social Security, Medicare: Is there a, Artist, activist Wyland issues urgent call to save, Local HBCU creates controversy with Caucasian email, Rabid raccoon found in Virginia Beach neighborhood. After the Olympics, the Jamaicans joined the U.S. national team on a barnstorming tour, holding head-to-head push competitions in cities across the United States. Pressed for time, he neglected to check the sled before pushing off. The tale of the Jamaica bobsled team who triumphed against the odds at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics is embedded in pop culture more than 25 years on, writes Nick Atkin The 1988 Jamaican Bobsled team entered Calgary, Canada never have even seeing snow and planning on competing in the bobsledding events at an Olympic level. It will return to Canadian ice at the Vancouver Olympics this month, alongside a Jamaican ski team. He earned a bronze medal at the 1969 World Championships and also served as the coach of the American team in 1985. ahead of the United States, French . But Jamaica's influence spawned off, with Trinidad, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Mexico, American Samoa and the Philippines all creating teams. Freddie has run off!' A 120-degree turn greeted them going into corner nine. "The government made stamps with our faces on it, so that was really cool. He left the army after eight years of service following Albertvilleto become a motivational speaker, and has written two books. "That's crazy. Let me lay out some difficulties for you. They got out of the sled and walked to the finish line as the crowd roared. On the second day of the 4-man competition Dudley Stokes lost control of the sled coming out of a turn at 85 miles per hour, ending the fairy tale run with a spectacular crash and last place finish. Jamaicas mens four-man bobsled team will have the chance to fight for gold in Beijing for the first time in 24 years. Chris Stokes, an accomplished sprinter was also in training for the upcoming Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Communication error please reload the page. The fourth member, railway engineer Samuel Clayton, suffered an injury prior to the competition and Stokes brother was called upon to fill his position. This 'feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme, it's Jamaica bobsled time', that was strictly Hollywood," says Fitch, adding that it was "an embarrassment". One by one they came out of the sled, and dusted themselves off. Unused to the speed, however, Dudley a Sandhurst-trained army captain who is still involved with Jamaican bobsled today lost control. The team's perseverance through a violent crash in the four-man event endeared them to Olympic fans. We interviewed our tech expert, Jaime Vazquez, to learn more about accessible smart home devices. Am I going to be safe or tossed around like a rag doll?. George Fitch, the man who co-founded the team, said about one percent of the movie is true in the years after Cool Runnings debuted. "We did what any team would have done," says Harris. Sometimes he takes players from his football team. Feb 19, 2022. Its been four years of hard graft to achieve what weve achieved, the teams pilot, Stephens, said. Join our newsletter to get the latest articles, news, & videos. The last time Jamaica had a four-man team in the bobsled was the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan, but it was the country's Winter Olympics debut with the team at the 1988 Calgary Games that inspired . Jamaica, the sprinting powerhouse, unexpectedly qualified to compete in bobsled at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. The 1988 Jamaican bobsleigh team has forced winter sports to be taken seriously on the island. The four-man Jamaican bobsled team became a sensation at the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary. ", His lowest point? Some athletes, even those who crash violently, slide for years with no lasting symptoms. He had no bobsled experience but because of his speed he was able to reduce the teams start times. The loveable islanders quickly became fan favorites. Did the Jamaican bobsled team coach cheat? The crash that nearly killed Sisson, the one that cut short his career and kept him from many more years of sledding, possibly saved his life. After a terrible Olympic debut a push-bar collapsed while driver Dudley was hopping in the second day of competition brought improvement, and Team Jamaica recorded its best ever start, the seventh fastest in Calgary that year. His older brother warned him not to wear his Jamaican bobsled jacket outside of the Olympic Village, but Chris had to learn the hard way. And then a few minutes later we saw Freddie walking back, and he made it clear he was running two 50m sprints in one. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. Dudley and Chris returned in 1992, 1994, and 1998; Harris . According to Today, on the team's third run, Dudley Stokes, who was driving the sled, lost control of the sled, which caused the sled to crash, while they were going 85 mph. Do you find this information helpful? People started to wave, and cheer, and say 'we love you'. They're going, 'If they can do that, we can do that.'''. Then just 10 days before the start of the Games, drama. They competed again in 1994 and created an international sensation when they placed 14th, ahead of countries that traditionally excelled in winter sports, including Australia, France, Italy, Russia and the U.S. That win gave the team the courage to continue and they entered the 2000 World Push Championships in Monaco where they won the events gold medal. Tuesday: He pushed a bobsled for the first time. But if youre not enough without one, youll never be enough with one.. The cancellation gained attention from news outlets internationally and prompted a response from the movie's star, Leon, and from 1988 Jamaican bobsleigh Olympian Devon Harris and his coach, American Patrick Brown. Dudley and Chris returned in 1992, 1994, and 1998; Harris . Now 45, he is a writer and motivational speaker. His goal now is to pass the test that will give him the certification he needs to work as a strength and conditioning coach at the college level. "They were complaining that it was too cold. The 1988 Jamaican Bobsled Team Racing During the Calgary Olympics Getty . Freddie Powell, a dreadlocked reggae singer, became the teams unofficial spokesman. The Top 12 Jamaican Recipes the Canadians Were How Jamaican Men Say Thank You to another Jamaican How Jamaicans Greet You When They Have Not Seen You 20 English Words That Sound Better In Jamaican Patois. Joe Sisson holding the damaged helmet he was wearing in his catastrophic crash.CreditKim Raff for The New York Times. 10 Items A Barrel Shipped to Jamaica from Foreign 6 Phrases Jamaican Men Say When Theyre Really 7 Interesting facts about the Irish Influence in How Much do you Know About These 7 Amazing Leaf of 20 Jamaican Mango Names You May Not Know About. Doctors classify brains older than 25 to 30 as old., Its a fascinating thing, the doctor said. You go to a World Cup race and they had a cup within a cup," says Fitch. "Then we began the event three days later" Stokes competed in four Winter Olympics, led the Jamaican Bobsleigh Federation and is now a finance manager. In just three days on the ice, Chris new teammates attempted to teach him everything he needed to know about the unfamiliar sport. We send our deepest condolences to the Clermont family during this difficult time. In January 2005, Sisson flipped his sled on one of the last turns on the track in Lake Placid, N.Y. "One day we were training up in Lake Placid, practicing our ice sprints over 50 metres," he says. For womens bobsled (always two-man), the sled must weigh 364 pounds. Fitch went on to become mayor of Warrenton, Virginia in the US. The team overcomes some serious setbacks to make it to the Olympic . "We didn't experience any animosity from other teams as depicted in the movie. Author By Posted on June 8, 2022 Categories casper youth basketball tournament 2021 1991 baseball cards worth money. Eddie said it was perfect timing, thanks so much for turning things around for the country. He overslept and rushed to the track for training. "Here we were going down the track, at the Olympic Games in front of the entire world and wefailed, we crashed in front of the entire world. But that's Hollywood. Chris felt embarrassed after the crash, but quickly forgot about his pain when he saw the number of fans encouraging his team as they approached the finish line. ", The tale - Hollywood or otherwise - has received another lease of life after the Jamaicans qualified for Sochi, reaching the Winter Olympics for the first time since Salt Lake City 12 years ago. The film shows the team being formed by Jamaican sprinters who failed . That was my seventh crash of the season," he laughs. You can follow him on Twitter @NickAtkinESPN. The Oscars will air on ABC and can be streamed on ABC.com and the ABC app as well as Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, AT&T TV or FuboTV. I thought I was going to be the next Sebastian Coe", Dudley Stokes and Michael White in action for Jamaica in the two-man sled, The Jamaicans crashed after a great start in their third heat, Freddie Powell, alongside Dudley Stokes and Michael White Getty Images, George Fitch was a candidate for the Virginia Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2005, Devon Harris captained the team at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, Figure skater Parr's Olympics over before Games begin, Gear finally arrives for Jamaican bobsled team, he and his wifehave been selling the old 'Hottest Thing On Ice' t-shirts to donate money to the cause, motivational speaker, and has written two books. (Bob Thomas Sports Photography/Getty Images . The four-man team came in an amazing 14th! "Caswell fell on the push track and got injured," says Harris. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. A little less than two years later, Sisson asked Dodds if he could try bobsledding again. He quickly realized that the steering mechanism had frozen, making a crash almost inevitable. Ive got survivors guilt big time, Sisson said. Irv admits that if Hemphill wants revenge, just punish him only, not his team. John Curry wins gold in Innsbruck (01.56) Franz Klammer's gold in Innsbruck (04.18) The annual push cart derby going down the Blue Mountains, in the eastern third of the island, was held the following day. The founding members of the Jamaica Bobsled Team proved that no dream is impossible, providing an ongoing reservoir of international goodwill and a model of success for nations around the world. Is the crash in Cool Runnings real footage? Even though the movie clearly didn't portray Siler with any accuracy, we'll still leave you with some of John Candy's handywork as the Jamaican bobsled coach. Like his three team-mates, White went on to compete at the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France in 1992; he now lives in New York and works in retail. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/04/sports/olympics/bobsled-travis-bell-joe-sisson.html. The money, though, did little to relieve Bells cascading health problems. "I told the guys, 'Let me just point out three problems, immediately'," says Fitch. All Rights Reserved. Jamaica qualified in at least one men's bobsled event from 1988 to 2002 but then did not send any teams until another unlikely run to a berth in the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, in the two-man . RAYAN LETTS-ironman . So unlike Blitzer, Siler was not stripped of his medals for cheating. Jamaica, meanwhile, has sustained its bobsled programme to this day, the team overseen now by the Stokes brothers. To be honest when this came up I was thinking that this is ridiculous. The helmet that may have saved Dudley Stokes ' life is up for auction. "One, we've never really been in a four. It is a comedy and they took a lot of poetic licence, but that's how Hollywood is. With the country's return to the Winter Olympics bobsled competition in 2022, there has been some talk about making a sequel, but one of the original founding team members, Dudley 'Tal' Stokes, believes there is no need for another "Cool Runnings . Indeed, the team's number had dwindled to three. An additional member, Caswell Allen, pulled out of the team at the last minute and was replaced by Tal Stokes' brother, Chris Stokes. Getty Images None of the athletes had ever seen a bobsled before. "What they see in us is themselves. Weitere Informationen ber die Verwendung Ihrer personenbezogenen Daten finden Sie in unserer Datenschutzerklrung und unserer Cookie-Richtlinie. So there you had the three principal members of the Jamaica bobsled team. This year marks another milestone. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Sisson has a photo of the two of them embracing that night, though he has no memory of the moment. remembers Fitch. "I remember saying to myself, 'Nobody could ever get me to go on one of those things,''' original team member Devon Harris told TODAY. T-shirts with the phrase Hottest thing on Ice flew off the shelves, and their reggae record Hobbin and a Bobbin became a hit. He passed the quarterfinals, coming second thanks to the disqualification of the French Marc Gagnon. "We only needed three days.". Word had already hit the streets that the Jamaicans were trying the four, which brought a record crowd of nearly 40,000 at the track, dwarfing the 5,000 you could usually expect. After failing to qualify for the LA Games in '84, middle-distance runner Harris joined the Jamaican army and there, in 1987, saw an advert for "dangerous and rigorous" trials to choose the nation's first Olympic bobsledders. Freddie had "raw talent" according to Fitch, but fancied himself a reggae singer rather than an Olympic athlete, and carried around a tape recorder with his songs in case he ran into someone offering him a record contract. He became addicted, which contributed to the demise of his marriage. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window). Did the Jamaican bobsled team win in 1992? The team pick up the bobsled and carry it across the finish line to great applause. Speaking about the movie a couple years back with the Calgary Sun, Siler explained he was contacted to see if he would coach the Jamaican team (which was being backed by two American business men) not that he was aimlessly drunk and disgraced in Jamaica. I suggest you step away. And only then would he scream or strike out or cover himself with a blanket.. News Corp is a network of leading companies in the worlds of diversified media, news, education, and information services. The first time the island nation had a bobsled team that qualified for the Winter Olympics was in 1988. "When we came back from Calgary, Eddie Seaga, the Prime Minister, gave me a medal of honour. But he was fast and in elite shape while training for the 1988 Sumer Olympics as a sprinter. Dudley went on to compete . The 1993 motion picture, Cool Runnings, was a loose representation of the teams bid for glory that utilized actual footage of the crash. Its based on a true story, but a member of the unlikely Jamaican bobsled team that inspired the popular Disney film says its largely fiction. Jamaican bobsled team member that inspired 'Cool Runnings' dies after battling coronavirus. Their endeavor won the hearts of an international community, but during one of their runs, the team suffered a horrendous crash at 85 M.P.H. In reality, he died the day that crash happened, Chuck Bell said. The Beijing Olympics next month will be the first Winter Games since the brain of a U.S. Olympic bobsledder who died by suicide in 2020 was found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E., the degenerative brain disease caused by multiple head traumas. The team trained everywhere from the Jamaica Defense Force base to Austria to Lake Placid, New York, using borrowed equipment and makeshift training facilities, like grass and concrete tracks. He cant remember anything from that time. A Plus. He practiced relentlessly, sometimes taking as many as 15 runs in a day, and eventually welcomed Sisson into the back of his sled any time he needed a pusher. People inadvertently come across Cool Runnings on television or on a flight, and having watched it, feel encouraged and emboldened to take on the challenges in life, Chris said. Everything changed in January 1999, while Bell was filming a car commercial for the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. Aside from their debut in the sport in 1988 when the team crashed and never officially finished the event, Jamaica entered a four-man bobsled team in the 1992, 1994 and 1998 Winter Olympics . But debilitating health problems, overdoses and recent deaths by suicide among retired athletes have forced the sport to confront evidence that sliding sports can pose long-term danger to brain health. Jamaica has carried on the bobsledding tradition, though it has struggled to remain a constant on the international scene. The sled worked its way through the rest of the curves and finally came to a rest at the bottom. Privacy Policy & Terms of use. In those first days, Sisson was confused about where he was. For the first time, Jamaica qualified in three Olympic bobsled events earning the last spot in two-man and a place in the new Olympic event of women's monobob.. The original four-man Jamaican bobsled team famously trained with a slapped-together sled on a concrete . Sissons age his young brain also most likely played a role. section: | slug: howard-siler-first-jamaican-bobsled-coach-dies-at-age-69 | sport: other | route: article_single.us | A wide cast of characters showed up, from street vendors to fishermen - but also some athletes. The black helmet Sisson wore that day, along with two other scraped and dented ones from his career, sit atop a cabinet in his classroom at Morgan High School, where he teaches geography, history, psychology and weight training. talkSPORT.com takes a deeper look. Current team members are Marvin Dixon, Sam Thomasi, Joel Alexander, Rindy Loucks, and manager Jassica Thomas. Dudley Stokes manages the Jamaican National Bobsled Federation and lives in Jamaica. In three days we taught him everything we knew about pushing a bobsled. "We had to close it down, we raised the money and we didn't want to abuse the public's goodwill and trust. That said, it's a fun watch and it's a decent reminder of the cultural impact the 1988 Jamaican bobsled team had. "In three days, we taught him everything we knew about pushing a sled, because he didn't know that much,'' Harris told Dylan Dreyer. He avoided disaster for eight turns. "All right, Derice. 2004-2023 CBS Interactive. Getty Images. Australia has sent 8 Skeleton athletes and 29 Bobsleigh athletes to 8 Winter Olympics Games. Team Jamaica will be competing in the 2022 winter games; it has qualified for the four-man bobsled and two other bobsled events in Beijing. This service is provided on talkSPORT Ltd's Terms of Use in accordance with our Privacy Policy. I turned around and walked back immediately.. If he had known what the body and the brain endured during a bobsled run, he never would have cleared Sisson to compete again. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. A small donation would help us keep this available to all. An accomplished bobsledder in his own right, Siler is best known for his role as the man who helped bring the island nation of Jamaica to the 1988 Olympic Games in Calgary as bobsledders. "The true story is even more remarkable," Harris told InsideEdition.com. Stokes suffered only minor injuries from this crash. "When we were in Lake Placid that January we went down the track a few times in a four. "At least half a dozen islands now have bobsled teams.". The loveable islanders quickly became fan favorites. All Rights Reserved. Bannock recruits his friend and pushcart derby champion Sanka Coffie alongside the other two runners Junior Bevil and Yul Brenner. They quickly became the underdog favorites of fans and a symbol of international cooperation and sportsmanship. And yet a mystery lingers. Representing a tropical nation in a cold-weather sport, this team was seen as the ultimate underdogs. The most scientific explanation thus far is the identification of a speed gene in Jamaican sprinters, which is also found in athletes from West Africa (where many Jamaicans ancestors came from), and makes certain leg muscles twitch faster. Remember those days when you're a kid and your parents say, 'OK, come inside, come and do your homework.' The fans were all over me, and I couldnt even walk, Chris said. They crashed on their third run, in a moment that is dramatized in Cool Runnings. No, they did not lift the sled over their heads, but they did get up and push it over the finish line (VIDEO). With Fitch returning for a friend's wedding in June 1987, Barnes bragged about how well Jamaica were going to do at the next summer's Olympics in Seoul. There was swelling, too, and for a time it was unclear if he would survive. The true story inspired the 1993 movie 'Cool Runnings' starring the late actor John Candy. There were the seizures and migraine headaches and chronic pain that doctors treated with opioids such as Vicodin and OxyContin. "They reminded the IOC folks, 'Hey listen, these guys qualified, they met all the conditions, you can't just tell them no because you think they're a bunch of clowns,'" says Fitch. By Jon Ackerman Jul 15, 2016, 6:27 PM EDT. ", What would Harris have liked to be done differently, though? The team members were actually . Ending a twelve year absence, a Jamaican bobsled team competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. . The reality was that Fitch, a former Commercial Attache for the American embassy in Kingston, returned to Jamaica for a wedding in June 1987. He managed to secure a last-minute Olympic accreditation, which he acknowledges would be impossible today. To this day, fans quote movie lines to Chris, most often, Im feeling very Olympic today. Chris, who is now President of the Jamaica Bobsled Federation, often finds himself quoting the coach character played by John Candy, A gold medal is a wonderful thing. He had stayed up until 4 a.m., local time, the night before the crash, watching the Super Bowl. When he next saw Timpson, the physical therapist, at the hospital, he told her he had made a big mistake. Howard was . Thats the kind of money I dont have to take a test if I am going to fail it, he said. Chris Stokes, who was a member of that famous team, is now the president of Jamaica's bobsled federation. Sisson was a football player in Evanston, Wyo., near the Utah border, in the mid-1990s, when a neighbor was hosting Jamaicas bobsled team, which trained in Park City, Utah, ahead of the 1998 Olympics. March 8, 2013. The only option left was to hold open tryouts. As he cruised down the track, a camera mounted to his sled flew off and was sucked underneath, forcing the sled into the air. "I took my children up to Lake Placid a couple of years ago to watch a race," says Harris. In 1988, Jamaica entered a bobsled team in the Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Jamaican bobsled team: It was even crazier than 'Cool Runnings', Figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi looks back at her Olympic gold medal moment. "It was typical Jamaican bravado," says Fitch. It gives me a sense of it being worthwhile to go through the pain and the disappointment of starting from the beginning because we cleared that path for other people and removed their excuses. He tired easily. . A radio operator and private in the army reserves, brakeman White was one of the first to be selected for the team, and also competed in the two-man bobsled with Dudley in 1988. "The gauntlet got thrown down.". series, Harris and fellow bobsledders Michael White and Chris Stokes reminisced about the unlikely story that made Olympic history and became the basis for the 1993 Disney hit "Cool Runnings.". Jamaica does in fact have a bobsled teamthe 1993 Disney film was based on the true story of the Jamaican national team's debut at the 1988 Winter Olympics. Fitch set to work, striking a deal in a Calgary bar to sell Jamaica bobsled t-shirts which his wife had designed.