{"id":178018,"date":"2026-02-14T14:57:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T14:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/178018\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T14:57:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T14:57:16","slug":"caribbean-sprinters-are-hoping-to-transform-winter-olympic-bobsledding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/178018\/","title":{"rendered":"Caribbean sprinters are hoping to transform Winter Olympic bobsledding"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Axel Brown, the pilot of Trinidad and Tobago\u2019s bobsled team, came to the Milan-Cortina Winter Games<\/a> with a simple goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust don\u2019t come last,\u201d he said. \u201cWe know that there is a 0% chance of us contending for medals. It doesn\u2019t matter if we have the absolute best day we\u2019ve ever had.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just the reality of it. It\u2019s not defeatist, it\u2019s not negative. It\u2019s just being realistic.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s also realistic to believe that Trinidad, just by being in the competition, is furthering something of a revolution in the Winter Olympics in general, and in bobsledding in particular.<\/p>\n

When Jamaica debuted in the event in 1988, it was so novel it inspired the 1993 Disney movie \u201cCool Runnings<\/a>.\u201d Now, it\u2019s no longer unusual to see a team from a tropical climate competing in the Winter Games; there are 11 Caribbean and South American countries, plus Puerto Rico, competing in the Milan-Cortina Olympics.<\/p>\n

When the bobsled competition in Cortina begins Sunday, Trinidad will have teams in the two- and four-man events for the first time, while Jamaica will compete in both those events as well as the monobob. Brazil will also be there.<\/p>\n

And Brown says it\u2019s only a matter of time \u2014 and money \u2014 before others join and start contending for medals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a very deep talent pool in Caribbean bobsled, one that could make a world-class bobsled program without a doubt,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because bobsled races are often won or lost at the start, where speed, explosive power and acceleration are vital in getting the 400-pound sled moving. Sprinters have all those traits.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven more specific, it\u2019s usually big sprinters,\u201d said Curtis Tomasevicz<\/a>, a former football player at Nebraska who won Olympic gold and silver medals in the bobsled before becoming a coach with the U.S. team. \u201cThey\u2019ve got just an athleticism that is very applicable to pushing sleds.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jamaica <\/p>\n

Jamaica takes part in a training run at the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games on Friday.<\/p>\n

(Al Bello \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

And the best sprinters in the world come from the Caribbean \u2014 so many, in fact, that trying to make a national team for the Summer Olympics can seem like trying to win the lottery. The Winter Games offer another path.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Trinidad and Tobago, there\u2019s a wealth of sprinting talent. So an athlete that in another nation may be the best in the country doesn\u2019t necessarily get a look in Trinidad,\u201d Brown said. \u201cWhat we\u2019ve been able to do is kind of give those athletes that were maybe on the fringe an option at achieving all of their sporting goals, just doing it in a different way.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve been training for bobsled their entire lives. They just didn\u2019t know it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The transition can be difficult just the same. The first time Trinidad\u2019s Micah Moore, a former sprinter, rode a sled, he said he thought he was going to die.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was scared out of my mind,\u201d he said. \u201cI was legitimately feeling, \u2018I just want this to be over.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that feeling came off, I was like, \u2018Let\u2019s go again.\u2019 It\u2019s an adrenaline rush. There\u2019s no amount of words I could put to say how it felt in that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Caribbean bobsledders are deep in talent, what they lack are world-class facilities and funding. In the former they\u2019re hardly alone, said Tomasevicz.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of other nations that obviously don\u2019t have a home track to practice on,\u201d he said. \u201cEven Great Britain, they don\u2019t have a track in their country. So they have to spend time in other nations actually training for the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trying to find the money is an even bigger problem \u2014 especially for Trinidad, which Brown said was the only team in Cortina that didn\u2019t receive government funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cBobsled is an expensive sport,\u201d Trinidad\u2019s Xaverri Williams<\/a> said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been trying to negotiate with our [national Olympic committee], our Ministry of Sport, reaching out to individuals who are willing to help us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trinidad doesn\u2019t even have a decent sled; it will be racing Sunday with an old secondhand one the team owes money on. Getting a new one that would be competitive with the best in the world could easily cost $250,000 or more.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need the funds to further develop the broader program, the recruitment, the [research and development] of the equipment. Everything that there is involved in bobsled,\u201d said Brown, was born in England to a Trinidadian mother, which allows him to compete for the island in the Olympics. \u201cAnd you need to be able to sustain that.\u201d <\/p>\n

You also need the belief that it\u2019s possible to succeed in an icy winter sport even though you\u2019re from a sun-washed country where the average annual temperature is 80 degrees. Jamaica provided that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do in fact look up to them,\u201d Williams said. \u201cWhen those guys initially slided, it was an eye-opener for the rest of the world, that a Caribbean nation could actually compete. They inspired us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very proud of that,\u201d said Chris Stokes, a four-time Olympian and member of the \u201cCool Runnings\u201d team who is now president of the country\u2019s bobsled federation.<\/p>\n

The next step is to outgrow the novelty and become medal contenders, something Stokes says Jamaica can do by the 2034 Games in Salt Lake City. A top-12 finish in Cortina would keep them on pace to do that, he said.<\/p>\n

As for Trinidad and Tobago, Brown said they faced so many challenges just getting to Italy that they considered it a victory when they checked into the Olympic village.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur gold medal,\u201d he said \u201cwas qualifying.\u201d<\/p>\n