Jamaican Bobsleigh team invoke iconic Cool Runnings film as they finish DEAD LAST at Winter Olympics

Jamaica’s two-man bobsleigh team finished in last place during their event at the Olympics, but the country still has a chance to achieve something that hasn’t been done in 24 years.

Shanwayne Stephens and Nimroy Turgott took on the run at the two-man event on Monday, and proved it’s the taking part that counts as they finished 30th out of 30 teams.

It felt all too similar to the classic comedy Cool Runnings with the mishaps experienced during the event, in which things didn’t get off to a great start, as the athlete pushing the bobsled slipped as he began to move it forwards.

Shanwayne Stephens and Nimroy Turgott got off to a poor start in the event at Beijing 2022

The Jamaican bobsleigh team have long been one of the most popular at the Winter Olympics, and it comes much in part down to the excellent 1990s film ‘Cool Runnings’.

Released in 1993, events of the Disney film are very loosely based on the true story of huge underdogs Jamaica, a country with about as much chance of developing ice as Wales have of seeing a dry season, somehow qualifying for the bobsleigh event at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. 

That’s not the end of the road for former RAF sniper Stephens, though, who will pilot the country’s four-man bobsled as it returns to the Winter Olympics for the first time in 24 years.

Jamaica made their debut at the 1988 Calgary Games, which they failed to finish but provided the storyline for the classic 1993 Disney comedy film Cool Runnings (above)

He is set to pilot that sled, which is expected to feature push athletes Matthew Wekpe, Ashley Watson and brakeman Rolando Reid – the same squad Stephens has led in every four-man race he participated in this season. 

The 2022 team has however faced difficulties while preparing for this year’s Olympics due to travel restrictions, with members beginning their training together this winter.

‘We’re a bunch of guys who literally came together for the first time on the 18th of September, not by our own fault but the COVID situation and travel restrictions,’ Stephens said. 

Jamaica’s four-man bobsleigh team are still yet to compete in the games as they returned to the Olympics for the first time in 24 years

‘To achieve what we’ve achieved in such a short period of time is a testament to the hard work everybody has put in outside of being together.’     

Jamaica’s participation in the event comes after the four-man team failed to qualify for the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics by just a single spot in the world rankings. 

The four-man bobsled action gets underway with heats 1 and 2 on Friday.