Bryant Gumbel on the Winter Olympics: "paucity of blacks ... makes the Winter Games look like a GOP convention"

[Marilyn. 340]

Although their 1988 appearance was plagued by crashes and technical difficulties, the Jamaican team improved drastically by the 1992 Winter Olympics and came in 14th, ahead of teams from the United States, France, Russia, and Italy. Their two-man team beat the Swedish team and came in tenth place.

The team has continued to improve, taking home various medals, including gold at the 2000 World Push Championships in Monte Carlo and firsts in 2-man sledding and 4-woman sledding in the Olympic trials.

As of 2002, the Jamaican team consisted of Mark Hill, Lascelles Brown, Garnett Jones, Stewart Maxwell, Clive McDonald, Wayne Thomas, Dudley Stokes, and team captain Winston Watt. The women's team is Porscha Morgan, Winsome Cole, Taniesha LcLean and Dukelyn Barrett.

The Jamaican Bobsled Team currently trains in Evanston, Wyoming. Their slogan is, appropriately enough, "The Hottest Thing on Ice".

Jamaica had competed in every Winter Olympics since 1988, but failed to qualify for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. However, Lascelles Brown competed for Canada as a Canadian citizen with driver Pierre Lueders and won a silver medal in the two-man bobsleigh competition.

Jamaican Bobsled

Edited February 20, 2006 by MarilynP