Jamaica to contest four-man bobsleigh at Winter Olympics for first time since 1998

They’ve been pushing cars and working out in a backyard gym.

Now Jamaica’s bobsledders are ready to turn heads in Beijing as the small island nation returns to the event that thrust it into sporting folklore.

For the first time in 24 years, Jamaica will contest the four-man bobsleigh at the Winter Olympics.

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Leading the charge is driver Shanwayne Stephens, a UK-based RAF Regiment Gunner.

He and brakeman Nimroy Turgott are also contesting the two-man event, of which training runs have begun.

Jamaica is no stranger to the discipline, also fielding two-man teams at the 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2014 Olympics, as well as a two-women team at the 2018 Games when they finished 19.

But it’s the four-man, in which Stephens and Turgott will be joined by Ashley Watson and Matthew Wekpe, which is set to attract the most attention.

The country’s famous debut in the event at Calgary in 1988, when the underdog team comprising Devon Harris, Dudley Stokes, Michael White and Chris Stokes crashed on their third run, spawned the hit 1993 movie Cool Runnings, based loosely on the real story.

Jamaica went on to compete at the next three Winter Olympics in four-man, but has not competed since Nagano 1998.

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At Beijing 2022, the team is looking to prove it’s no novelty.

“We don’t mind the movie, but we just want to show that we’re more than a movie,” Stephens told the Olympics website this week.

“We’re actually fierce competitors and we’re out there to do really well and to put on a really good performance at the Games.”

Stephens, who