CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy – Chris Stokes, a founding member of Jamaica’s original “Cool Runnings” bobsleigh crew, recalls being mobbed by fans at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics the moment he put on the team jacket and left the athletes’ village to go into town.
“That’s a rookie mistake which I made,” he recalls 38 years later, the buzz still echoing as the current quartet compete at the Milano Cortina Games.
“Even now, yesterday, when I came back from the track with the team in the van and they just opened the door to let me out, people saw Jamaica bobsleigh and we were absolutely mobbed,” Stokes told Reuters.
“I myself go down the street in a plain black jacket. You want to be respectful of your fans and people who support the program, but you wouldn’t get anywhere. You wouldn’t get to the corner store to buy a coffee.”