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Jamaica Women Qualify for Olympics in Bobsledding, Make History

The team is striving "to bring home the first Winter Olympic medal for the women's team!"

Jamaica’s women's bobsled team made history Monday, becoming the first female bobsled team from the island nation to qualify for the Winter Olympics.

They will compete 30 years after Jamaica sent its mens bobsled to the Olympics in Calgary, Canada, inspiring the movie “Cool Runnings." 

The women's team has been training in Pyeongchang, South Korea, site of the  2018 Olympic Winter Games, and in upstate New York since March, giving themselves the name "Gold Squad: Fire on Ice," according to team media coordinator Kathleen Pulito. The team is striving "to bring home the first Winter Olympic medal for the women's team!" Pulito said in an email. 

“A leap of faith and a dream come true later I will be representing my country as one of the first women bobsled athletes in the Olympics. I am overwhelmed with joy knowing that I have helped make history for my country. I am really grateful for this experience,” said Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian will pilot for the Jamaica team, in a press release.

Fenlator-Victorian previously piloted for USA in the 2014 Winter Games before joining Jamaica Bobsled and Skeleton Federation in 2015. 

Carrie Russell and Audra Segree were selected as brakewomen for Jamaica. 

The press release also said the Jamaica men’s bobsled team is ranked 31st on the Olympic Qualification list, one spot out of qualification. If any teams forego their selection, Jamaica would be next in line to make its 7th appearance in the men’s 2-man event on the 30th anniversary appearance since their debut in Calgary in 1988.

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