The Jamaican bobsled team is back in the Winter Olympics for the first time since 1998. Their return to the Olympics led to fans reflecting on the 1988 team when they made their debut in the Games. Devon Harris, a founding member of the four-man team, recently spoke to Betway about the team being created.
“Two Americans who lived in Jamaica saw pushcart derby, which is a sport where crazy guys go down the side of the mountain in a cart, and it kind of looked like bobsledding to them,” the Olympian told Betway. “Those two men were George Fitch and William Maloney who started to put together the bobsled team. They will be looking to compete in the 1988 Games in Calgary and looking for people who could run.
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“After being turned down by the summer Olympic team, they came to the army looking for athletes,” Harris continued. “I guess that was the only place you could find guys who were brave or foolish enough to take it on.” Harris also noted that he was a middle-distance runner and was looking to compete in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
“But when my Colonel told me that these guys had approached me for bobsled trials – geez, I switched. I didn’t know how I was going to make the team, but I just knew I had to,” Harris said. “I honestly don’t think he expected me to do it. If I didn’t want to, all I had to do was turn up and go through the motions, but I’m not wired that way, man. It was all hands on deck, a total commitment. Once we got selected, the question wasn’t whether we were going to go to the Olympics, but how we were going to do it.”
Once the team was formed, they began training in September 1987. They trained in Lake Placid, New York before heading to Calgary where they trained for six weeks. In January 1988, Harris and the team returned to Lake Placid one month before the Olympics. They competed in the games and were disqualified after crashing on their fourth run. But they walk over the finish line together following the accident.
“The first thought that came to my mind after the crash was, ‘Wow, how embarrassing,’” Harris said. “All of us were apprehensive to go back home because we felt that we had let down our country, we thought people would be upset and ridicule us. Man, it couldn’t have been any different. People were very supportive, even to the point where the government made stamps with our faces on, so that was quite an honour.” Their story led to Disney producing the movie which was released in 1993. As for the 2022 team, they will begin competing next week.
