Watch: Jamaican Four-Man Bobsled Team Returns to Winter Olympics After 24 Years

Before Saturday, the Caribbean nation had not competed in the four-man event at the Games since 1998.

Feel the rhythm and feel the rhyme—after a 24-year absence, Cool Runnings is back at the Olympics. 

On Saturday in Beijing, Jamaica competed in the four-man bobsled for the first time since the 1998 Nagano Games, and to plenty of fanfare.

The team's performance drew comparisons on social media to Jamaica's Cool Runnings team from the 1988 Calgary Games, which was immortalized by the Disney film of the same name. 

Click here to watch both of Jamaica's heats in the four-man bobsled. 

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Piloted by Shanwayne Stephens, who also competed in the two-man event last week, Jamaica ranked last after the first two heats, finishing more than five seconds behind first-place Germany with times of 1:00:80 and 1:01.39.

Stephens's teammates include a rugby player for the Jamaican national team, a one-time HBCU track star and a former member of the Great Britain bobsled program.

However, Stephens said earlier this week that the nation's return to the even meant a lot more than just the final result. 

“I think it's everybody's dream to represent their country and we're here doing it, living it and breathing it,“ Stephens told ESPN after the two-man event. "We just hope that we've done everybody proud. 

“I mean, there's a lot of people supporting us. There's Jamaican, non-Jamaican, everybody that loves Cool Runnings is supporting us. Just represent Jamaica and enjoy it while we're here. Not everybody gets this opportunity, so we just want to enjoy it.”

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Andrew Gastelum
ANDREW GASTELUM

Andrew Gastelum is a programming editor and writer at Sports Illustrated who specializes in soccer, the Olympics and international sports. He joined the SI staff in March 2021 and previously contributed to Howler Magazine and NBC Sports. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame alum and is currently based in Italy.