The Jamaica bobsled team is asking for $60,000 to hire a coach through a crowdfunding campaign.
The Jamaicans hope to qualify men’s and women’s bobsled teams for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, which will mark the 30-year anniversary of their Olympic debut in Calgary, which inspired the 1993 Disney film “Cool Runnings.”
“We have the talent, the discipline and the determination, needed to contend in the 2018 Winter Olympics,” was written on the crowdfunding page. “With a coach on staff we believe we can not only contend for a medal, but also bring a medal home, and commemorate this outstanding achievement.”
The Jamaicans can attempt next season to qualify for the Olympics. It will not be easy. Jamaica has zero World Cup results this season, a best finish on the lower-level North American Cup of seventh and was briefly stranded in Canada.
Jamaica bobsled returned to the Olympics in Sochi, for the first time in 12 years, and was the last of 29 finishers in the two-man race.
That driver, Winston Watt, turned 49 years old in December and is no longer competing with the Jamaican program.
The new Jamaican program athletes include Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian, a 2014 U.S. Olympic driver, and Michael Blair, a running back for the Cincinnati Bengals and Green Bay Packers in 1998.
The Jamaicans recently had a coach, hiring U.S. Olympian and coach Todd Hays in July 2014.
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We are collecting donations to hire a coach. Consider a small contribution: https://t.co/2N778U3Ceo #CoolRunnings #JohnCandy @gofundme pic.twitter.com/PHlSCuImk0
— Jamaica Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (@JBSFed) January 12, 2017
