Jamaica, they have a bobsled team, and they need some funding to get to the Winter Olympics
Jamaica's two man bobsled team have qualified for the Winter Olympics in Sochi, after the duo of Winston Watts and Marvin Dixon confirmed their place at St. Moritz this weekend.
However, they have one more hurdle to overcome despite making the cut for the Games, and that is the significant hurdle of funding. Watts is more than aware of the sacrifice and hard work it takes to make it though, as he was also part of the last Jamaican team to make it to a Winter Olympics in 2002. He has been lending his voice to the campaign to get the money together to fund their trip, and they need about $80,000 (€59,000) to make it.
Thanks to the internet, they may have found a way for that to happen, and the story will certainly resonate with anyone who has ever seen the brilliant Disney movie
Cool Runnings. Those are the folks who are encouraged to dig deep and give to the
crowd funding campaign for the team on Crowdtilt, and so far they've managed to raise over $17,000 (at time of writing).
The Telegraph's Ian Chaband got a great interview with Watts, and the 46-year-old former goalkeeper was more than confident that he and Dixon can do well at the games, telling Chaband: "Man, you should see me! Age is just a number. You’d never believe I was a man of 46. You’d say maybe 30, 35. I’m big, dark and handsome, like a 6ft, 235lb runnin’ back!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zFHkBQBg-4
Watts has stated that he has put a decent wedge of his won money into the sport, nearly $150,000 by his reckoning, and the $80,000 they need is not only for travel, but also for equipment, as the team and the sport are badly underfunded in Jamaica.
Obviously, the story is drawing parallels with that of the 1988 team who qualified for the Olympics, and Watts and Dixon are happy for that to be made, even calling themselves
Cool Runnings 2. Hopefully they can get the funding together and make it to the games, and repeat the best slow clap moment in the history of film, which definitely happened in real life and you can't convince us otherwise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31M_MdSVxV8
Hat-tip to Yahoo Sports, The Telegraph and Bleacher Report
