Loose bolts on Jamaica’s sled are believed to be responsible for the team’s underwhelming performance in their first two heats of the women’s bobsled competition at the Winter Olympic Games in South Korea on Tuesday.
Placed 19th overall after two heats
The Jamaicans clocked times of 51.29s and 51.50s in Heats 1 and 2, respectively, to be 19th overall and on the brink of elimination from the competition.
The team of Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian and Carrie Russell now need to finish in the top 10 in tomorrow’s Heat 3 to be assured of advancing to the medal round, Heat 4.
Responding to queries about the team’s performance, Leo Campbell, Vice President of Sports at the Jamaica Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (JBSF) revealed that an inspection of the sled revealed what could be the source of the problem.
Sled has loose bolts
“The sled set-up (the way in which a sled is prepared for a particular track and ice conditions) was affected by some loose bolts that threw the front suspension out of alignment,” he said. The problem, he explained, caused a braking effect on the sled slowing it down during the heats.
Bobsled team perplexed
Campbell said the team was perplexed at how slow the sled was during the heats considering that during the practice runs on the weekend, it had attained speeds of 133kph much faster than the 128kph that was achieved during the first two heats of competition. However, he assured that all was not lost. “It’s not over yet,” Campbell declared.
He assured that the problem was relatively easy to fix and it would be addressed overnight. He said that once the problem is rectified he expects the team to be much better for Wednesday’s crucial Heat 3.
“If Carrie can push like she did today and Jazmine drive like she did I am sure we will get into the top 10 and then we take it from there.”
