History beckons on Saturday when Jamaica’s Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian competes in the first monobob event at the Olympic Winter Games.

The three-time Olympian will be the first Jamaican to participate at the Olympics with the two and four men bobsleigh teams and Alpine Skier Benjamin Alexander set to compete later.

Fenlator-Victorian will line up with 19 other athletes at Yanqing National Sliding Centre in Beijing, China.

The monobob, which is only contested by women, will be held over two days – Saturday and Sunday –  with two runs each day, the two-man bobsleigh will be held Monday and Tuesday and the four-men bobsleigh Friday and Saturday.

Fenlator-Victorian, who has also competed in the two and four women bobsleigh events, will need to improve her performances after the four practice runs where she finished in the lower third of the performances.

The American-born athlete was 20th on the first practice run, 2.05 seconds behind the leaders and was 20th again after the second run, this time 2.27 seconds behind. She improved marginally in the next two runs, moving up to 18th position both times.

Meanwhile, Mark Silva, the technical director of the Jamaica Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (JBSF) said while they had hoped for better preparation and the service of a physiotherapist in Beijing, they were ready to perform to the best of their abilities.

“COVID hasn’t helped,” he told the OBSERVER  ONLINE. “You would usually have four years to build and prepare as a team. We have had one year where qualification was our goal. (I wanted all four teams) and you have to believe.”

The Jamaican team were denied the services of physiotherapist Dr Jo Browne who had travelled with the team throughout the qualifying period, but who was not accredited by the Jamaica Olympic Association. Silva stated that this would set them back.

“On the ground out here, lack of physio is going to affect performance without a doubt. It was why we took one with us all season. Things are now trying to be done, however, it’s too late, in my opinion. Rehab and prehab are key to elite performance.”

Christian Nelson Stokes, president of the JBSF had announced that the United States Bobsled Federation had offered physiotherapy service to the Jamaican team. Silva said the team had always surpassed his expectations.

“This team has given everything and more in the last 12 months. I couldn’t be more proud. They always exceed my expectations.”

He said he believed the teams will perform well.

“We finished 30th in the two-man and 28th in four-man over the season. Both meant we were in the top 50 per cent of overall rankings  – a huge achievement.  The female team is the same. We were 20th in monobob. So my goal is to be the best athlete/team we can be.”