From track to ice: Tyquendo Tracey chases Jamaica’s ‘Cool Runnings’ bobsleigh legacy

Record ID: 2341884

  • Title: From track to ice: Tyquendo Tracey chases Jamaica’s ‘Cool Runnings’ bobsleigh legacy
  • Date: 15th February 2026
  • Summary: CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, ITALY (FEBRUARY 15, 2026)(REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MEMBER OF JAMAICA BOBSLEIGH TEAM, TYQUENDO TRACEY, BEING INTERVIEWED (SOUNDBITE)(English) MEMBER OF JAMAICA BOBSLEIGH TEAM, TYQUENDO TRACEY, SAYING: "For a track athlete, the experience of training for bobsleigh is totally different. There are similar characteristics that you could basically put together and
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Andrea Dacres Chris Stokes Cool Runnings Milano Cortina 2026 Tyquendo Tracey Winter Olympics bobsleigh
  • Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
  • City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Europe,Olympics,Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA001565815022026RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Jamaican sub‑10‑second sprinter Tyquendo Tracey is carving out a parallel sporting career as he pushes to extend Jamaica’s storied bobsleigh legacy, decades after the Caribbean nation’s “Cool Runnings” crew captured global attention.
    Part of the current national team competing at the Milano Cortina 2026 Games, Tracey is among athletes recruited from track and field as Jamaica looks to convert raw sprinting power into speed on ice.
    Tracey, 32, said the transition required him to rethink almost everything he knew from the track. “For a track athlete, the experience of training for bobsledder is totally different,” he told Reuters. “There are similar characteristics … but in terms of both sports themselves, they are very different.”
    He said that explosiveness was essential.
    “In order to be a good sprinter and a good bobsledder, you have to have explosiveness and a lot of power,” he said. “Most sprinters don’t necessarily have a lot of arm power, but they do have explosiveness.”
    Asked about what was the most difficult when it came to bobsleigh, Tracey, who said he would go back into sprint training after the Olympics, said it was the cold.
    Jamaica Bobsleigh Federation president Chris Stokes said Cool Runnings, which told the story of the Jamaican men’s breakthrough Olympic debut, continued to influence the sport more than three decades later.
    Stokes, who also authored the book "Cool Runnings and Beyond", said the movie had a “great impact” not only in Jamaica but on bobsleigh around the world.
    He said the federation now runs “two parallel programmes” — preserving the “happy-go-lucky inspirational story” of Cool Runnings while building a modern, medal‑focused team.
    Stokes also set a challenge for the current team as they begin their Olympic campaign. “By the end of these games, by the time you step on the track in 2030 in La Plagne and in Salt Lake City in 2034, let fans be crowding you because of something you did,” he said.
    Tracey and his four‑man crew start their campaign with a training heat on Wednesday (February 18).
    (Production: Marta Fiorin, Noemie Olive, Ilze Filks)
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