Bobsleigh-Jamaica seek sliding success to replace 'Cool Runnings' past

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 16 : Chris Stokes, a founding member of Jamaica's original "Cool Runnings" bobsleigh crew, recalls being mobbed by fans at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics the moment he put on the team jacket and left the athletes' village to go into town.

"That's a rookie mistake which I made," he recalls 38 years later, the buzz still echoing as the current quartet compete at the Milano Cortina Games.

"Even now, yesterday, when I came back from the track with the team in the van and they just opened the door to let me out, people saw Jamaica bobsleigh and we were absolutely mobbed," Stokes told Reuters.

"I myself go down the street in a plain black jacket. You want to be respectful of your fans and people who support the programme, but you wouldn't get anywhere. You wouldn't get to the corner store to buy a coffee."

MAKING A MOTIVATIONAL MESSAGE 

The 2026 team were soon surrounded when they ventured recently into the chic Dolomites resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Stokes, now 62 and president of the Jamaica Bobsleigh Federation, saw in it a motivational message.

"My 1994 team finished 14th at the Olympic Games. And until a team finishes higher than that at the Olympic Games, that team is the best Jamaican bobsled team ever. I've said this to the guys," he continued.

"I've also said to them 'Don't confuse yourselves. When you step out of the car and somebody's asking you for an autograph, it's because of something I and my teammates did. That's nothing that you have done'.

"My challenge to them is, by the end of these games, by the time you step on the track in 2030 in La Plagne (France) and in Salt Lake City in 2034, let people, fans, be crowding you because of something you did. That's my challenge to them."

IMMORTALI