Jamaican Bobsled Team Arrives with No Equipment

Sochi, Russia - It sounds like something that could have been a scene from Disney's successful motion picture "Cool Runnings" about Jamaica's first team to compete in the winter sport of bobsledding in the 1988 Winter Games. Now, the team has arrived for competition in the 2014 Winter Games in this Black Sea city, but their equipment failed to arrive.

Funding has been a problem for the team just as it was depicted in the film, but a deluge of public support provided the team with the financing to participate in the games. However, as the team waited for the luggage with their equipment to appear on the turnstile at Sochi International Airport, it never arrived. Winston Watts, the team's bobsled pilot, says they currently have nothing by way of equipment and that includes their special runners (blades) for the ice, shoes, and other related gear. All Watts could do was hope the Chef de Mission could locate the luggage.

As of Wednesday, while other teams were practicing and getting acclimated to the competitive field, the Jamaican bobsled team had to merely look on in frustration. Watts said it was his objective to get in two good practice sessions, but that takes equipment. He said other teams plan to let them borrow equipment.

On the Web:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/sochi/2014/02/05/jamaican-bobsled-team-winston-watts-equipment/5220887/