Jamaica national bobsleigh team - wikipedia Jamaica national bobsleigh team This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( November 2012 ) Jamaica 's two - man bobsled at the 2014 Winter Olympics Jamaican bobsleigh in 2009 The Jamaican national bobsleigh team represents Jamaica in international bobsledding competitions. The team first gained fame during their debut in the 1988 Winter Olympic Games four - man bobsled in Calgary, Alberta, where they were seen as underdogs as they represented a tropical nation in a winter sport. The team returned to the Winter Olympics in the two - man bobsled in 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2014, and with a women 's team for the first time in 2018. The team either failed to qualify or did not have a team during the other Winter Olympics. Contents 1 Beginnings 2 Evolution 3 Modern day 3.1 Current 4 Olympics record 4.1 Two - man 4.2 Four - man 5 In popular culture 6 See also 7 References 8 External links Beginnings The team, consisting of Devon Harris, Dudley Stokes, Michael White, Freddy Powell, and last minute replacement Chris Stokes, debuted at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta. The team was coached by Howard Siler, an Olympic bobsledder for the United States in 1972 and 1980. They quickly became very popular, largely because of their status as the ultimate ' underdog ' story of the games. Alongside the novelty of a tropical country competing in a cold - weather sport, the team had very little experience going down a bobsled track, and borrowed spare sleds from other countries to compete. In a show of sporting camaraderie across national boundaries, other bobsledders were quick to give them guidance and support. They did not officially finish after losing control of the sled and crashing during one of their qualifiers. The movie Cool Runnings is loosely based on their experience at the 1988 games. Evolution The team returned to the Olympics in the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, but finished poorly. They qualified again for the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. There, the Jamaican four sled stunned many of their critics by finishing in 14th place, ahead of the United States, Russia, Australia and France. In 2000, the Jamaican bobsleigh team won the gold medal at the World Push Championships in Monaco. At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, the 2 - man team of Winston Watts ( pilot ) and Lascelles Brown ( brakeman ), set the Park City bobsled track record and the Olympic record for the push - start segment of the 2 - man race at 4.78 seconds. Jamaica failed to qualify for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, or the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. They did however, qualify for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia as a two - man bobsled. Jamaica also competed in women 's bobsleigh, with a crew of two, consisting of pilot Porscha Morgan and Wycombe Cole on brakes, winning World Push Championship titles in 2000 and 2001. They achieved the fastest push times in all runs, resulting in a landslide victory. These women gave birth to the Jamaican women bobsleigh team / program and were seen as contenders in the sport. However, the women 's programme suffered a setback because of lack of funding, and brakeman Wynsome Cole suffered injuries due to a crash, resulting in the team having to withdraw from a few of the competitions. The Jamaican women 's team was revived after the 2014 Winter Olympics, with KayMarie Jones and Salcia Slack competing in a North American Cup race in November 2014 being the first Jamaican female crew to compete internationally in over a decade. Among the athletes on the revived team is NaTalia Stokes, daughter and niece of former Jamaican bobsledders Chris and Dudley Stokes. Modern day Having qualified for the 2014 Sochi Olympics, but lacking funding, the cryptocurrency Dogecoin community raised on the team 's behalf $30,000 of the approximately $40,000 required within two days. An online campaign was set up, seeking to raise an additional $80,000 through Tilt.com ( formerly Crowdtilt ). When it closed on 22 January 2014, the campaign had raised $129,687, far surpassing the target. After the 2014 Olympics former Olympic medallist and former coach of the Dutch and United States bobsleigh teams Todd Hays was appointed head coach and technical director of the Jamaican team. However he had to leave his role after one season due to a lack of funds to pay his salary, although he continued to work with the team in an unofficial capacity. Ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the Jamaican Bobsleigh Federation invested significantly in the team, buying a new sled for the women 's crew of Jazmine Fenlator - Victorian and Carrie Russell, and filling a number of coaching positions, with former British, Dutch and Brazilian coach Jo Manning becoming High - Performance Director, former Olympic and World Champion Sandra Kiriasis joining as driving coach and Dudley Stokes being appointed as coach responsible for of performance, mental preparation and general logistics. In January 2018, the Jamaican women 's team secured qualification for the Olympics for the first time. However the men 's team missed out on Olympic qualification by one position in the world rankings. Current The current team : Position Teammate Driver Tobin Anderson Brakewoman Lauren Game Brakeman Ronan Aislabie Skeleton Rider Cain Taylor Olympics record Two - man Olympics Athletes Ranking 1988 Dudley Stokes Michael White 30 1992 Devon Harris Ricky McIntosh 35 Dudley Stokes Chris Stokes 36 1994 Dudley Stokes Wayne Thomas DQ 1998 Devon Harris Michael Morgan 29 2002 Winston Watts Lascelles Brown 28 2014 Winston Watts Marvin Dixon 29 Four - man Olympics Athletes Ranking 1988 Dudley Stokes Devon Harris Michael White Freddy Powell Chris Stokes DNF 1992 Dudley Stokes Ricky McIntosh Michael White Chris Stokes 25 1994 Dudley Stokes Winston Watts Chris Stokes Wayne Thomas 14 1998 Dudley Stokes Winston Watts Chris Stokes Wayne Thomas 21 In popular culture The 1988 team was the inspiration for the film Cool Runnings ( 1993 ). The characters in the film are fictional, although original footage of the crash during a qualifier is used during the film. The film 's depiction of the post-crash rescue was changed to show the bobsledders carrying the sled over the line on their shoulders for dramatic effect. The 1988 team also inspired the reggae parody song `` Jamaican Bobsled '' by The Rock ' n ' Roll Animals, played on the GTR radio station and later released on the CD Yatta, Yatta, Yatta. The song was recorded after Jamaica had announced that they would be entering a bobsledding team into the Olympics, but before the Olympics had actually started ; nevertheless, the lyrics accurately predict that the team would crash during one of their runs. The 1999 team was mentioned in Season 2, episode 4 of Futurama. Fry, one of the main characters, commented that `` They came in last at the Olympics, then retired to promote alcoholic beverages. '' The 2014 team was the inspiration for `` The Bobsled Song '' written by Sidney Mills from the reggae band Steel Pulse, Jon Notar and Groove Guild. The music video features 8 - bit graphics. The song is timed to sync up to the team 's Sochi bobsled run. The song was widely shown on television Olympics coverage in the lead - up to the team 's run. See also Tropical nations at the Winter Olympics Lascelles Brown References Jump up ^ `` Rewind To 1988 : The real Cool Runnings ''. ESPN. 5 February 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014. ^ Jump up to : `` Jamaican bobsleigh team are back in the running for Winter Olympics glory ''. 1 January 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014. Jump up ^ Zaccardi, Nick ( July 14, 2014 ). `` Howard Siler, first Jamaica Bobsled coach, passes away ''. NBC Sports. Retrieved July 17, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Jamaican Bobsleigh Team Debut at Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics ''. YouTube. 15 November 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2014. Jump up ^ Todor Krastev ( 5 February 2012 ). `` Bobsleigh Fours XVI Winter Olympic Games 1994 Albertville ( FRA ) -- 15, 16.02 ''. Todor66.com. Retrieved 4 February 2014. Jump up ^ Todor Krastev ( 5 February 2012 ). `` Bobsleigh Doubles XVI Winter Olympic Games 1992 Albertville ( FRA ) -- 15, 16.02 ''. Todor66.com. Retrieved 4 February 2014. Jump up ^ `` Winter Olympics : Jamaica, we have a bobsled team ''. TVNZ. 29 January 2010. Retrieved 5 March 2010. ^ Jump up to : Zaccardi, Nick ( 14 November 2014 ). `` Jamaica ( re ) starts women 's bobsled team ''. NBCSports.com. Retrieved 22 January 2015. Jump up ^ Rigby, Caroline ( 25 December 2014 ). `` Cool Runnings 2 : Downhill Daughter - The real - life sequel ''. bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 22 January 2015. Jump up ^ Alex Hern. `` It 's bobsleigh time : Jamaican team raises $25,000 in Dogecoin Technology ''. theguardian.com. Retrieved 4 February 2014. Jump up ^ `` Dogecoin Jamaican Bobsled Team Olympics ''. Business Insider. 20 January 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2014. Jump up ^ `` Olympics : Fans help fund Jamaica bobsleigh Olympic bid ''. BBC News. 21 January 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2014. Jump up ^ `` Help the Jamaican Bobsled team get to Sochi ! ''. Tilt.com. Retrieved 4 February 2014. Jump up ^ Olivero, Antonio ( 28 January 2017 ). `` Uphill push to Olympics ''. Adirondack Daily Enterprise. Retrieved 21 January 2018. Jump up ^ Scott, Livingston ( 13 December 2017 ). `` Bobsleigh Team Has Top Level Support ''. Jamaica Gleaner. Retrieved 21 January 2018. Jump up ^ Keyser, Hannah ( 16 January 2018 ). `` Thirty Years After Cool Runnings, Jamaican Women Qualify For Olympic Bobsled ''. Deadspin. Retrieved 21 January 2018. Jump up ^ Zaccardi, Nick ( 22 January 2018 ). `` Jamaica misses Olympic men 's bobsled by one spot ''. NBCSports.com. Retrieved 23 January 2018. Jump up ^ `` Team ''. Jamaica Bobsleigh Federation. Retrieved 15 March 2017. Jump up ^ Kaduk, Kevin ( 16 February 2014 ). `` The Jamaican bobsled team has an amazing theme song and music video ''. Yahoo Sports. Retrieved 24 February 2014. Jump up ^ Transcript : Xmas Story Jump up ^ Wilkinson, Dan ( 21 February 2014 ). `` The Jamaican Bobsled Team Just Released This Olympics Anthem ''. Vice. Retrieved 24 February 2014. External links Jamaica Bobsleigh Federation official website Video Interview With Devon Harris Devon Harris ' interview with John Kline of Elevation Radio Visa 2010 Winter Olympics commercial on YouTube featuring photos and footage of the Jamaican team debut at the 1988 Winter Olympic Games. National sports teams of Jamaica Association football M U23 M U20 M U17 Baseball Basketball M U19 M U17 Beach soccer Bobsleigh Commonwealth Games Cricket Ice hockey Netball Olympics Pan American Games Paralympics Rugby league Rugby union F7 M7 Tennis Volleyball Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jamaica_national_bobsleigh_team&oldid=826636711 '' Categories : National bobsleigh teams Bobsleigh in Jamaica National sports teams of Jamaica Jamaica at the Winter Olympics 1988 establishments in North America Hidden categories : EngvarB from June 2014 Use dmy dates from June 2014 Articles needing additional references from November 2012 All articles needing additional references Talk Contents About Wikipedia বাংলা Dansk Deutsch Español Italiano עברית Русский Edit links This page was last edited on 20 February 2018, at 06 : 00. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: when did the jamaican bobsled team go to the olympics
Answer: 1988