Jamaica Doesn’t Need A Medal To Be A Winner At Sochi

After a 12-year hiatus, the Jamaican bobsled team was back in Olympic action on Sunday, and this time you could enjoy their slide down the ice while listening to their official theme song,

Jamaica “The Bobsled Song”

Amazingly enough, the tune was specifically designed to sync with Sochi’s bobsleigh course at the Sanki Sliding Center in the Caucasus Mountains.

Like their music video, the two-man Jamaican bobsled team, comprised of Winston Watts and Marvin Dixon, is one of the more interesting and attractive stories of these Sochi Games. And please ask around because what you’ll find out about the Jamaica’s bobsledders is… that  everyone loves them!

According to the L.A. Times, the team is celebrated virtually everywhere they go in Sochi:

Making their first Olympic appearance since 2002, the Jamaican bobsled team has enjoyed rock-star status here. Giddy volunteers clap when they walk by, reporters line up for interviews and fellow Olympians continually ask them to pose for pictures.

“All the people here like us,” Watts told St. Clair. “No, that’s not correct. I should say all the people here love us. We are a caring people and we love them too.”

The Jamaican bobsled team has been a winter attraction since 1988, the year they made their Olympic debut at Calgary. The team returned to the Winter Games in 1992, 1994, 1998 and 2002, but failed to qualify again until this year. 

People were elated to see them make it back. That must really be why people from all over the world and all walks of life helped raise money for their pending trip.

Sunday the team posted an official time of 58.42 in their first heat on Sunday, putting them in dead last. They made up no ground in Heat 2, finishing with an official time of 58.81. Jamaica trails the leaders, Russia, by 4.41 seconds.

But no matter how well these Jamaicans do in Sochi, people simply love to cheer for them, and that’s something worth noting during these Winter Games.

Even other countriescheer for them: People just want to capture the moment with them. Whether they’re sliding down the track at speeds in excess of 125 kilometers per hour or just roaming around the Olympic Village, these guys are heroes.