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The 2022 Winter Olympics are just getting started in Beijing, and Jamaica's national bobsled team was overly excited to be appearing at the games for the first time in over 20 years. In a new video, the team can be seen dancing in their rooms as they prepared to make their debut, telling the world "Wi ready!" on Twitter.
Team Jamaica’s bobsled team was hype before making their first Winter Olympics appearance in over 20 years ????????
(via @TeamJA876)pic.twitter.com/gUVwL979WM
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 4, 2022
Jamaica's bobsled team hasn't competed in the Olympic Winter Games since 1988 with the legendary team that inspired the Disney film Cool Runnings. While it's been quite some time since the world has seen Jamaica's team compete at this level, one of the members promised PBS News Hour there will be more to come.
“This won’t be our last Olympics, and there won’t be a next 24 years span for us to qualify again,” Nimroy Turgott, the team’s bobsled brakeman, said, adding that he finds inspiration in his daughter to keep pushing. “To me, this is an opportunity to show the world what I can do and provide a better life for [my daughter] because I wouldn’t want her to grow up in the struggle that I grew up in."
Turgott said the 2022 team has their own legacy to build, but is honored to be compared to the 'Cool Runnings' team.
Turgott acknowledged that the movie portrays a similar experience to the current team "in terms of training methods and struggle for funding and stuff like that," but he said the new team is blazing their own trail. Though, they're still inspired by the ones who came before them.
“I can see why people always compare us, but we are honored to be compared to Cool Runnings and honored to be carrying on the legacy that the movie and the guys in ’88 set for us," he told the outlet.
“They definitely motivate us a lot and inspire us,” he continued. “We want to return the favor of showing them our appreciation, and we also want to be the best team that Jamaica has ever sent to a winter game. So, we want to surpass the legacy that we set so it can inspire the next set of generations that is coming up and to represent Jamaica.”
