"Upon turning up in the New York outpost of Lake Placid for their final Winter Olympics warm-up competition, Jamaica's four-man bobsleigh team were informed they were not allowed to take part. A hat-trick of gold medals over the preceding few weeks had seen them rise too high in the world rankings to take their customary place on the second-tier North American Cup circuit."
"There is no meeting that I cannot get, and no conversation that somebody is at least willing to have with me, says Jamaica Bobsleigh Federation president Chris Stokes. Not because they know me, and not because they know bobsleigh. But because they know Cool Runnings. The Jamaican bobsleigh team who first gained fame at the 1988 Winter Olympic Games; Devon Harris, Dudley Stokes, Michael White, Freddy Powell and last-minute replacement Chris Stokes are photographed in Kingston, Jamaica in May 1991."
Jamaica's four-man bobsleigh team were barred from competing at their final Winter Olympics warm-up in Lake Placid after recent victories pushed them too high in world rankings. A hat-trick of gold medals over preceding weeks elevated the team beyond the second-tier North American Cup circuit cutoff. Jamaican bobsleigh occupies a unique cultural position in predominantly temperate winter-sport countries, driven in part by the popular film Cool Runnings. Chris Stokes experienced the sport from 1988 after an unexpected drafting into the four-man team and has maintained a lifelong commitment to the program.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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