CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 16 (Reuters) – 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.
“I myself go down the street in a plain black jacket. You want to be respectful of your fans and people who support the programme, but you wouldn’t get anywhere. You wouldn’t get to the corner store to buy a coffee.”
MAKING A MOTIVATIONAL MESSAGE
The 2026 team were soon surrounded when they ventured recently into the chic Dolomites resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Stokes, now 62 and president of the Jamaica Bobsleigh Federation, saw in it a motivational message.