“I am going to give my 100 per cent and I will await for that result show up on that clock when I get down to the bottom”, this is how Jamaican bobsledder Winston Watts anticipates the forthcoming races during the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. After being retired from sports for nearly about a decade -the last time the Jamaican team qualified was the Salt Lake City Games in 2002- driver Watts is back on the ice track. Together with his brakeman Marvin Dixon, they will represent the island i the Winter Olympic 2-man bobsleigh discipline, competition to take place on February 16 (20.15 and 21.15) and February 17 (18.30 and 20.05).
“COOL RUNNINGS”? Nah! “More Cool” Runnings…
Talking to pilot Watts, during our exclusive Skype interview, I quickly realise that the Jamaican Olympic 2014 stint will certainly not be about inspiring a sequel to the original “Cool Runnings”, the Disney cult tim of the nineties. The debut appearance of the Jamaican national team at the Calgary Games in Canada in 1988 gave rise to that motion picture, which featured real footage of the crash that eliminated the team from the competition at that time. Rather, and so I suggest to the man in charge of JA bobsleigh teams’ destiny, a “More Cool” Runnings?, he smiles. Albeit he describes himself as a “fun-loving person”, captain Watts discloses “when it comes to competition, right, my time … I am a very serious athlete”. He even admits “because I hate to loose, I want to be up all the time, cause I trained so hard for this competition”. Indeed participation in these Games 2014 saw itself endangered not because of lack of qualifying but finances and had it not been for the very trendy concept of crowdfunding…
Where did it all start?
“Why don’t you compete for Jamaica again?”, was the question asked, over and over again, by his friend and former teammate Lascelles Brown -a two-time Olympic medallist and competitor for the Canadian bobsleigh team-. The Utah Olympic Park ice track is just 90 kilometres from Winston’s home in Evenston, Wyoming, so Winston went to see his friend Lascelles sliding quite often, and certainly often enough to bring up that topic. Re-discovering his ever-present “passion”, Winston gave it “a lot of thought” and knew that, if he was to start training professionally again, he “was gonna give up a lot of things, … [not last, his] job”. But Winston “decided to give [his job] in” in order to be able to dedicate his time to training and despite the fact that he “didn’t have any sponsor”. So, apart from the help by the Jamaican Bobsleigh Federation and “other sources”, the athlete had mainly “used [his] own personal savings to start”. He recalls: “it was a very rocky, rocky … road to compete, I faced a lot of obstacle” from the funding point of view. And now, whilst the Olympic Association was about to officially announce that the Jamaican team had achieved Olympic qualification, the team themselves -coming back from qualifying races at Placid Lake, New York to Winston”s Evenston house- had no further idea of where to take any further funds for training time or, let alone, equipment or travel cost. But the thought to “quit now” because there was “no money” did not let the passionate bob sledder “sleep at night”.
INDIEGOGO, CROWDTILT, REDDIT
#JamaicanBobsled #TeamJamaicaBobsled
Thus, simultaneously with the news on the return of the Jamaican team to the Olympics breaking, the donations in response to pleading help for the #TeamJamaicaBobsled getting the team to Sochi by funding them via crowdfunding platforms Indiegogo, Crowdtilt and even in online currency Dogecoin via Reddit amassed. Unexpectedly soon, within less than 48 hours, the pledged target of USD 80.000,- was reached.
THE HOTTEST THING ON ICE
In addition to the funds chipped in from the crowds, the travel and accomodation expenses covered by the Jamaican Olympic Association and the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee -as announced in a press release published on jamolympic.org-, and a USD 100.000 sled donated by Franz Wimmer from the German company “Wimmer Carbontechnik”, the team is all set to race and “surprise the world?”, I wonder. And Winston assures “it’s all about surprise”. Certainly these guys are going to be the hottest on ice. And when I enquire about their special choreography and the momentum of the start, Winston explains “the start is very vital, like the first 50 m. Once you can get the sled going very fast, faster than everyone else, you know, then, you just have to hang on by the time you get to the bottom end”. And we all know what we are going to do once the Jamaican bob is going to arrive at the bottom end: we will await for that result show up on that clock!
Did you know…..?
…..that Winston Watts will be the oldest participant in the competition?
Quote from the interview: “Who else is going to be there as old as me?”
…..that there are plans for the future already?
Quote from the interview: “We are trying to make this sport more competent with more Jamaican athletes.”
Watch the EXCLUSIVE interview here:
….. we have searched our archives and would like to express our Good luck message to the Jamaican Bobsleigh Team for Sochi 2014 this way click on link: Good luck JA team!
Interviewed, written, filmed & edited by: Ilona Kepic (iK, x)
