Just like his Cool Runnings forerunners, Jamaican bobsleigh pilot Shanwayne Stephens has had to improvise how to train for the event.
The RAF force protection sniper specialist has been pushing his fiancee’s Mini around after Covid shut gyms.
The country’s 1988 bobsleigh team, immortalised in 1993 film Cool Runnings, also had to make up ways to train as no facilities were available.
But instead of sweating in the Caribbean, Shanwayne and his team-mates pushed the car around a deserted industrial estate in Peterborough – Shanwayne’s home town since moving to England with his mum 20 years ago.
They also made their own weights out of concrete as preparation for the four-man bobsleigh in Beijing next month.
But Shanwayne, who will be at the helm of the sleigh as it careers around the ice track at around 100mph, says the crew have since then been training normally at a US facility.
The Queen’s Colour Squadron sniper, normally based at RAF Northolt in West London, told the Mirror of narrowly missing out on qualifying for the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.
He said: “It’s absolutely amazing. We were part of a team that missed out on Pyeongchang by one spot. So for us to qualify for Beijing after missing out four years ago is a doubly sweet moment.
“We are compared to Cool Runnings, and we can’t get away from that, it’s part of Jamaican bobsleigh and part of our culture. The story behind the movie runs through the team today.”
He says qualifying is a “fantastic” achievement as the team only got together in September.
Shanwayne, 31, and his team-mates are due to arrive in China tomorrow.
His fiancee Amy Valentine and their six-month-old daughter Maia will be cheering him on from home.
He says of getting involved in the sport: “I saw a poster in the RAF, asking if people wanted to try bobsleigh. That was in 2015, and I’ve been bobsleighing ever since.”
Since joining up in 2011, the athlete has represented the Royal Air Force on parade at the State Opening of Parliament and events at Buckingham Palace, The Tower of London and Windsor Castle.
Jamaica will be one of 28 teams competing in the four-man bobsleigh, the first time the Caribbean nation has qualified in that category in 24 years.
They also have a two-man team – and are determined not to be a novelty act.
Shanwayne added of his pride in competing: “It’s really fantastic to go out there not just to represent Jamaica, but also to represent the Royal Air Force.”
