Cool runnings

This is one of my favorite movies of all for three reasons: it is funny, it is about a sport and it is based on a real life story. 

The movie is about the Jamaica national bobsleigh team who managed to participate in Winter Olympics in Canada in 1988 despite all barriers that seemed impossible to overcome. Bobsleigh is a winter sport practiced in teams in which they use a sleigh driven by gravity through a narrow and twisting iced tracks.

Maybe you wonder, if it is a winter sport, how could a Jamaican team practice it or even going to the Olympics? Well, this is the thrilling and emotional part of the story.

Derice Bannok  was a runner who failed to qualify to the Olympics in 1988 but he really wanted to participate in a Olympic, no matter what sport, so he and his friend went to look for Irving Blitzer, who was a bobsled Medalist but was disqualified for cheating so he retired to Jamaica, Bannok wanted him to start a bobsleigh team. He eventually convince Irving and three more friends, who despite all weather and equipment disadvantages, they started training and going from being  a mockery to others, to become the first Jamaica team going to the Winter Olympics. 

In the race, everyone was impressed because they seemed to have the opportunity to achieve a medal, but sadly, their sled was really old so it could not handle high speed, so they ended falling far away from the finish line. Despite this moment, they were determined to finish the race, so they lift the sled over their shoulders and started to walk across the finish line, everyone stood up and applauded. It was a really special moment for the history of Olympics and Jamaica.

 Jamaican national bobsleigh team

By, Paola Montano