Jamaica Gleaner

Bobsledder­s out of self-quarantine

- Akino Ming/Staff Reporter akino.ming@gleanerjm.com

JAMAICA BOBSLEIGH and Skeleton Federation President Chris Stokes said that the winter sports athletes who returned to the island two weeks ago have completed their self-quarantine.

Carrie Russell, Audra Segree and others were forced to cut short their preparatio­n in Lake Placid, New York, for qualificat­ion to the 2022 Winter Olympics as the state became one of the epicentres of the coronaviru­s outbreak.

“We decided for them to come home because of the big issue with the virus in New York,” Stokes said. “They have finished self-quarantini­ng now,” Stokes said. “As a federation, we put that in place because some of them were coming in and saying that nobody at the airport were telling them that they had to selfquaran­tine, so we put them in quarantine and provided the guidance as to how you go about quarantini­ng. We had put that in place before it was made official here.”

The group spent three months in Lake Placid sharpening their skills for the season that has now been cancelled.

RACE CANCELLATI­ONS

“They had cancelled the season and the last race, so it made sense for us to come home at the time. We had a really good time in New York, had three months of good training there. We were looking forward to the race at the end of the season to test where we were on a competitiv­e basis. But right now, the attention of mankind has shifted to taking care of our neighbours and ourselves,” Stokes said.

The federation has been thrusted back in the spotlight after Carrie Russell, Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian and reserve Audra Segree became the first women to qualify and take part in the winter Olympic Games two years ago.

 ?? FILE ?? Driver Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian (right) and Carrie Russell of Jamaica start their first heat during the women’s two-man bobsled competitio­n at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchan­g, South Korea, on Tuesday, February 20, 2018.
FILE Driver Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian (right) and Carrie Russell of Jamaica start their first heat during the women’s two-man bobsled competitio­n at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchan­g, South Korea, on Tuesday, February 20, 2018.
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STOKES

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