KINGSTON, Jamaica — When the 2026 Winter Olympics begins in two days, there will be, for the first time, two Caribbean nations competing in the four-man bobsleigh event, including Jamaica.

The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation shared the news that Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago will represent the region in the event, which entails pushing, then piloting 200-kilogramme sledges at high speed along a track carved out of ice.

The four-man team consists of a pilot in front, two crewmen in the middle and a brake man in back. Using hidden rings and ropes inside the sledge, the pilot must steer, avoiding the icy walls on either side.

Jamaica’s four-man team consists of Shane Pitter and Crew [Andrae Dacres, Junior Harris, Tyquendo Tracey, Joel Fearon].

The team’s inclusion has been garnering support and excitement globally, with reports following their progress from Japan, the United Kingdom (UK) and other countries, much of it off the back of the 1993 Walt Disney film Cool Runnings.

It was loosely based on Jamaica’s participation in the 1988 Winter Olympics, where the national team crashed after a late entry into the competition.

Shot in Kingston, Discovery Bay and Calgary, Canada, Cool Runnings features a four-man Jamaican bobsled team on their journey to the Olympics in a borrowed sledge.

Though the team also crashes in the film with real footage from the 1988 crash used, and they miss out on a medal, it became a cult classic.

Debuting at number three at the box office, it was especially popular in Germany, Japan and the UK.

At the 2026 Olympic Games, there are four bobsleigh events: the women’s monobob, men’s and women’s two-man and the men’s four-man event.

Jamaica has qualified for three of the events, the monobob, courtesy of Mica Moore; the men’s two-man with team Shane Pitter and Crew [Nimroy Turgott, Joel Fearon, Junior Harris]; and the four-man event.

Trinidad and Tobago also qualified for the men’s two-man event, and rounding out their two-man and four-man squads are Pilot Axel Brown, Shakeel John, De Aundre John,
Xaverri Williams and Micah Moore.

Each team gets four runs, with the fastest total time winning the event and the gold medal.

This graphic shared by the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Instagram page depicts the country’s athletes for the Winter Games, including Alpine Skiing and the four-man Bobsleigh