Not cool: Jamaican bobsledder appeals for entry based on discrimination against smaller nations

BEIJING — Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian claims it is not “Cool Runnings” for her Jamaican bobsled team as she appeals for entry into the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

Fenlator-Victorian, a bobsledder who was one of Jamaica’s flag-bearers at the Opening Ceremony has filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

While she has qualified in the new monobob competition, Fenlator-Victorian wants to also compete in the two-woman event with Audra Segree as her brakewoman.

The three-time Olympian makes two key points. The first is that European athletes had an unfair advantage in the international bobsled federation ranking system over smaller nations from other parts of the world. Those rankings, based on points accumulated at competitions, determined Olympic berths.

With the pandemic limiting travel over the past two years, European athletes could more easily travel to competitions within their region. That was also possible for athletes from countries with larger budgets. Meanwhile, travel was difficult for those such as Fenlator-Victorian.

In her filing, Fenlator-Victorian zeroes in on a Europa Cup bobsled competition in December in Winterberg, Germany. Two days of racing were supposed to count separately in the rankings. However, when the first race was canceled due to bad weather, the second race was counted twice. That allowed France’s Margot Boch to earn the final spot in the two-woman bobsled competition at the Olympics.

There were 10 entries in Winterberg: three from Germany, two from Russia and one apiece from France, South Korea, Romania, Ukraine and Australia.

“We fight so hard on a consistent basis to be heard, and oftentimes, we’re looked down upon because of our resources, potentially because of the color of our skin or because we’re not able to trail blaze dominance from the get-up because of the lack of resources,” Fenlator-Victorian told the New York Times. “But nonetheless, we fight very hard to represent ourselves at the best of our abilities and we’re competitors competing at the world’s highest stage.”

Fenlator-Victorian’s other point is that there are 30 entries at the Olympic Games in men’s two-man bobsled while there are only 20 for women. As the Olympic Movement emphasizes gender equity, this shows there is still room for improvement.

In the spirit of fair play, Fenlator-Victorian wants to compete while Boch also keeps her spot.

“If we’re pushing for gender equality and equity and fair play, why do we have 10 less slots in the same event?” Fenlator-Victorian said.

Fenlator-Victorian, 36, represented the United States in 2014 in Sochi, finishing 10th with Lola Jones as her brakewoman. Fenlator-Victorian’s father is a native of Jamaica, giving her dual citizenship.

The Wayne, New Jersey, native switched her allegiance in 2015 to Jamaica. “I want to leave a mark by building something that inspires people,” she said in 2018. “It’s a bigger part of just my success and my career — I could really lift a nation that I have a huge tie of heritage to. I love this sport and I want to keep the diversity. I want to keep the competitiveness. I want to broaden the horizon so it’s not just the same five nations always competing. The best way I felt I could contribute to that is to go to Jamaica.”

At PyeongChang in 2018, Fenlator-Victorian and brakewoman Carrie Russell were the first Jamaican women’s bobsled team to compete at an Olympic Winter Games.

However, their hopes nearly ran off track when coach Sandra Kiriasis of Germany was demoted. She left and threatened to take the team’s sled with her. Red Stripe, the Jamaican beer company, provided the funding to purchase the sled, nicknamed “Mr. Cool Bolt” after the film “Cool Runnings” and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. Jamaica finished 18th in PyeongChang.