Jamaica has a bobsled team heading to the 2022 Olympics

KATIE KINDELAN
·2 min read

Jamaica will be back competing in the four-man bobsled at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing for the first time in more than two decades.

In Beijing, Jamaica will have not just a four-man bobsled team competing, but, in a first for the country, also a two-man bobsled team and a female athlete competing in the monobob competition, an individual event that is making its Winter Olympics debut.

The Jamaica Olympic Association announced the news in a tweet Monday, writing, "Jamaica, we have a bobsled team heading to Beijing."

The Opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics is set for Friday, Feb. 4.

Though it will be a scaled-down Olympics due to the coronavirus pandemic, with no public tickets sold for events, it will mark a triumphant return for Jamaica's bobsled team.

PHOTO: In this Feb. 16, 2014, file photo, pilot Winston Watts and Marvin Dixon of Jamaica team 1 make a run during the Men's Two-Man Bobsleigh heats on Day 9 of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. (Al Bello/Getty Images, FILE)

The first time a four-man Jamaican bobsled team competed in the Winter Olympics was in 1988, when the team of four made it to the Calgary Olympics.

Though the team did not medal, thanks to a crash on the ice, their improbable Olympics run inspired the 1993 Disney movie, "Cool Runnings."

MORE: US speedskater makes Winter Olympic team thanks to teammate's selfless act

The last time a four-man bobsled team from Jamaica competed at the Olympics was 24 years ago, at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, according to NBC News.

Jamaica is also making history in Beijing with its skiing team.

Benjamin Alexander is only the second Jamaican in history to compete at the Winter Olympics, and the first in Alpine skiing, according to the Jamaica Olympic Association.

Jamaica has a bobsled team heading to the 2022 Olympics originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com

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