Acting president of the Jamaica Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation Nelson ‘Chris’ Stokes is encouraging athletes who are not in contention of making the national track and field team to the Summer Olympic Games to attend today’s selection exercise at GC Foster College in St Catherine.

The move is part of the federation’s recruitment thrust for brakemen ahead of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games in the Republic of Korea.

The selection event is set to start 9:00 am.

“We are very happy now with the drivers that we have. But we feel we can do better on the pusher side, the brakeman side, so we are continuing to look at that,” said Stokes.

“We are encouraging many athletes who would have participated at the National Track and Field Championships and other athletes like rugby players or people who are just into fitness to come out and participate and have a chance.

“We hope from the group we’ll be able to come out with a final set of pushers to compete in the Olympic Games.

“We will have 30-metre sprints, 60-metre sprints and standing long jump, just to demonstrate some speed/strength type of capabilities,” he added.

Stokes, who represented Jamaica at a number of Winter Games, said bobsleighing provides the opportunity for many Jamaican athletes to represent the country at the Olympic Games.

“We have a tradition of having among the best starters, and it’s important for us to maintain that. Bobsleigh is one of those outlets for our outstanding athletes to become Olympians.

“When you have a situation with somebody running 10.20 seconds [in the men’s 100-metre event] and has no chance of making the Jamaican team, this is one of the sports where speed/strength is required over short distances and an opportunity to become Olympians and Olympic medallists,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

The Jamaican bobsleigh team made its Winter Olympic Games debut in 1988 in Calgary, Canada, which inspired the 1993 film Cool Runnings.

— Sanjay Myers