Unlike the Summer Olympic Games, natural conditions have a decisive influence on the development of the competition projects of the Winter Olympic Games in various countries. Because of this, athletes from tropical countries who appear on the stage of the Winter Olympic Games always attract more attention on and off the field.
On February 19, Jamaican team debuted at the four-person snowmobile competition at the Beijing Winter Olympics. The Jamaican Embassy in China hosted a Winter Olympics viewing event to cheer on this legendary team. What is the significance of tropical countries participating in the Winter Olympics? Melissa Price, chargé d'affaires a.i.e. of the Jamaican Embassy in China, told the Beijing Daily client reporter that there is no snow, no ice, and no basic training conditions, which is why Jamaica must participate in the Winter Olympics.
In 1988, several Jamaican sprinters formed a four-man snow team for the Calgary Winter Olympics for their Olympic dreams. This is Jamaica's first appearance in the Winter Olympics, and the legendary experience of the athletes has been made into the movie "Light Ride on Ice", which has been passed down as a good story.
"That's why we have to do it. Because we don't have these things, we need to experience first-hand to know that there are no limits, no limits, and no mountains that we can't climb. Melissa believes that Jamaica's participation in the Winter Olympics is a manifestation of the spirit of sportsmanship.
Jamaica SnowMobile Courtesy of the Embassy of Jamaica in China
As the "kingdom of sprinting", Jamaica's dominance at the Summer Olympics is inseparable from excellent training system. But for the Jamaican snow team, in order to participate in the Winter Olympics, they must leave their homeland and travel to many countries to train on the snowmobile slides of other countries. Jamaican athletes, in particular, have experienced many difficulties and challenges when international travel has been restricted by the pandemic.
The story of the Beijing Winter Olympics in Trinidad and Tobago, another Caribbean island nation, is somewhat similar to jamaica.com. "We don't have snow there and we don't have snowmobile training facilities. Our athletes overcame many different obstacles to come to Beijing. Liu Na, trinidad and Tobago's recent ambassador to China, said.
For Trinidad and Tobago, the Beijing Winter Olympics trip is more meaningful because it is their return to the Winter Olympics after 20 years, and the tandem bobsleigh is the only event to participate.
The Jamaican Snow Team finished bottom in two events, the four-person snowmobile and the men's double snowmobile, with Jasmin Finrat Victorian, who participated in the women's singles snowmobile, in second-to-last place in her third Winter Olympics trip. Trinidad and Tobago are in third-to-last place in the double snowmobile event. But there is no doubt that they have once again proved themselves in the Olympic spotlight and continue to write legends.
This reporter Bai Bo photographed