Sochi Olympics 2014: Being a Jamaican bobsledder is still cool

Being a Jamaican bobsledder is still cool, even at Sochi Olympics

1/11

Anna Haag of Sweden, left, Claudia Nystad, of Germany, center, and Kerttu Niskanen of Finland compete in the Women’s Cross-Country Skiing 4x5km Relay. (Kirill Kudryavtsev, AFP/Getty Images)

2/11

Haavard Klemetsen of Norway prepares to jump in the Nordic Combined Individual NH / 10 km Ski Jumping official training Jump 1 at the RusSki Gorki Jumping Center. (John MacDougall, AFP/Getty Images)

3/11

Belgium-1, two-woman bobsleigh steered by Elfje Willemsen takes a practice run during a training session at the Sanki Sliding Center in Rosa Khutor. (Lionel Bonaventure, AFP/Getty Images)

4/11

Japan-1, two-man bobsleigh pilot Hiroshi Suzuki ends a practice run during a training session at the Sanki Sliding Center. (Leon Neal,, AFP/Getty Images)

5/11

Italy’s Francesca Marsaglia competes in the Women’s Alpine Skiing Super-G at the Rosa Khutor Alpine Center. (Fabrice Coffrini, AFP/Getty Images)

6/11

Nadia Fanchini of Italy competes during the Women’s Alpine Skiing Super-G. (Alberto Pizzoli AFP/Getty Images)

7/11

Marusa Ferk of Slovenia gets close to a gate in the Women’s Alpine Skiing Super-G. (Fabrice Coffrini, AFP/Getty Images)

8/11

Oliver Setzinger, of Austria, lands atop Pk Subban of Canada during the Men’s Ice Hockey Group B match. (Alexander Nemenov, AFP/Getty Images)

9/11

Slovenia’s Ziga Pavlin, right, tries to block a shot by Slovakia’s Tomas Tatar during the Men’s Ice Hockey Group A match. (Andrej Isakovic, AFP/Getty Images)

10/11

British Vicki Adams throws the stone during the Winter Olympics women’s curling round robin session 8 match between Great Britain and South Korea at the Ice Cube curling center in Sochi. (Yuri Kadobnov, AFP/Getty Images)

11/11

Great Britain’s Eve Muirhead urges on her stone in the Sochi Winter Olympics women’s curling round robin session 8 match against South Korea. (Yuri Kadobnov, AFP/Getty Images)

By Stacy St. Clair

Feb. 15, 2014 3:45 PM PT

SOCHI, Russia — The Jamaican bobsled team won’t reach the podium here unless nearly everyone else gets lost on the way to the track Sunday.

But if there were a competition for the most popular team in the Caucasus Mountains, they’d be a lock for gold.

Making their first Olympic appearance since 2002, the Jamaican bobsled team has enjoyed rock-star status here. Giddy volunteers clap when they walk by, reporters line up for interviews and fellow Olympians continually ask them to pose for pictures.

FRAMEWORK: Best images from Sochi

U.S. bobsled brakeman Lolo Jones — one of the biggest names here — posted a video of an American teammate having a dance-off with one of the Jamaicans last week. Other athletes have acknowledged using a meet-up app called “Tinder” to track the team.

“Just wanna match with the Jamaican bobsled team,” snowboarder Rebecca Torr of New Zealand tweeted before the Games began.

The team’s popularity largely stems from “Cool Runnings,” the 1993 Disney movie that is loosely based on Jamaica’s 1988 Olympic bobsled team. Thanks to its long shelf-life on cable, many of the English-speaking athletes here clearly consider the film a childhood staple.

U.S. bobsledder Aja Evans, for example, first learned about the sport from watching “Cool Runnings” as a child. Now she is considered one of the top brakemen in the world.

“All the people here like us,” said Winston Watts, who will pilot the Jamaican sled. “No, that’s not correct. I should say all the people here love us. We are a caring people and we love them too.”

sstclair@tribune.com

Twitter: @stacystclair

Being a Jamaican bobsledder is still cool, even at Sochi Olympics

More to Read

More From the Los Angeles Times