Race on for 1000-1 chance Jamaican sled team

JAMAICA

THE world’s favourite Olympic underdogs need a helping hand.

Jamaica’s bobsled team has qualified for the Winter Games for the first time in 12 years but faces a race against the clock.

They have just two weeks to raise enough cash to pay for spare parts for their sled, although Jamaica’s Olympic Association offered yesterday to finance their travel to Sochi – a significant part of the US$80,000 costs the team said it needed to take part.

Confirmation that the two-man team – veteran driver Winston Watts and brakeman Marvin Dixon – had qualified to run came yesterday. Thirty teams will enter, and Jamaica’s chances had looked grim on Sunday evening after they finished the qualification period ranked 39th.

However, nine teams were forced to relinquish their places as their countries had already qualified the maximum number of sleds allowed. That resulted in Watts and Dixon taking the final berth for the Sochi Games, where they would be 1000-1 outsiders to take the gold medal.

‘‘It means the world to me,’’ said Watts, 46. ‘‘I could not fall asleep last night just waiting to hear the news. I had a strong feeling we would get in, but you never know,’’ he told the BBC.

Sun-kissed Jamaica is not an obvious nursery for bobsledding legends, but in 1988 a team qualified for the Calgary Winter Olympics. In 1993, their story inspired the cult Hollywood comedy Cool Runnings, starring John Candy.

At least two online campaigns have been launched to help fund the team, raising more than $30,000 between them. ‘‘The Games will not be the same without the thrill and the passion of the Jamaican bobsleigh team,’’ said a message posted to the crowdfunding website indiegogo.com.

A team tweet said: ‘‘We are taking any donation amount dollars 1 and up . . . every mickle make a muckle.’’