Team Jamaica's bobsled is being prepared prior to their run at the America's Cup Bobsled Races in Park City December 5, 2009 in Park City, Utah.
by Howard Campbell
SOUTH FLORIDA – Devon Harris, a member of Jamaica’s bobsled team whose heroics at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary inspired the hit movie Cool Runnings, said he and his teammates were worried about how they would be portrayed in the 1993 comedy.
Cool Runnings, which starred John Candy, Malik Yoba and Leon, celebrates its 30th anniversary in October. It is loosely based on the groundbreaking team that was a sensation in Calgary 35 years ago.
Harris, brakeman for the four-man team, told South Florida Caribbean News that the and his colleagues met with writers for the movie in New York. He said although they took “copious notes” from them, it seemed that was abandoned for a “more interesting” script.
Devon Harris
“The storyline in the movie is quite different than what happened in real life,” he said, adding that the team’s greatest concern was how they would be projected.
“One of the concerns we had about the movie, was that they would resort to the stereotypical portrayal of Jamaicans as party animals and weed-smoking type of people,” Harris stated.
Harris, brothers Dudley and Chris Stokes, Michael White and Freddy Powell represented Jamaica at the Calgary Winter Olympics. Competing with limited financial resources and equipment, their courageous performances in the four-man and two-man events, made them fan favorites.
Now a motivational speaker based in New York, Harris said he likes Cool Runnings. Harris last watched the movie, in parts, in 2022. He believes it has held up after three decades but not much is done to document the sacrifices they made to compete in Calgary.
“Learning a brand new sport in such a short space of time in order to compete at the Olympic Games, you had to be disciplined, you had to be focused, you had to be dedicated; complete commitment, ” he said. “I think because people are so apt to view us through stereotypical lenses, they missed that dedication to commitment that we demonstrated to get to the Olympics back in 1988.”
Jamaica’s bobsled team have been to the Winter Olympics multiple times since their historic Canadian debut, including last year in Beijing, China. They have retained their novelty tag but never seriously challenged for medals.
