Michael White (bobsledder)

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Michael White Bobsleigh
nation JamaicaJamaica Jamaica
birthday 5th November 1964
place of birth Saint Mary ,  JamaicaJamaicaJamaica 
size 182 cm
Weight 107 kg
job reservist
Career
discipline Two, four
position Pusher
status resigned
 

Michael White (born November 5, 1964 in Saint Mary ) is a former Jamaican bobsledder who was a member of the first Jamaican bobsleigh team .

biography

When the two American businessmen William Maloney and George Fitch, who were in Jamaica on business, saw the resemblance to bobsleigh at a soapbox race , they had the idea of ​​establishing a Jamaican bobsleigh team and sending it to the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary . Since a quick start is an important part of bobsleigh, the two sprinters of the summer games wanted to recruit for the team. However, met with rejection, they turned to the military . In October 1987, just under 5 months before the Games in Calgary, Dudley Stokes formed the first Jamaican bobsleigh team as a pilot, Devon Harris , Michael White and Caswell Allen .

Together with the Jamaica Olympic Association , a bobsleigh and racing suits in the Jamaican national colors were procured. As a push for Dudley Stokes , White competed in the two-man bobsleigh and finished 30th out of a total of 41 places. This made them the first two Jamaicans in history to take part in the Winter Olympics.

Since Caswell Allen in Calgary enjoyed the nightlife more than to concentrate on the competition, this was excluded from the team and replaced by Chris Stokes . Chris Stokes, Dudley Stokes' brother, was a very good sprinter, but he had never sat in a bobsleigh before. The team finished 24th out of 26th places after the first run. After a fall in the last of the four races, however, the race was over for the four who had won a lot of sympathy. Despite their fall, the crew pushed their bobsleigh to the finish and embodied the motto: "Being there is everything".

At the 1992 Winter Olympics , White only competed in the four-man bobsleigh . With the two Stokes brothers, Devon Harris and Richard McIntosh , the team finished 25th out of 31 places.

Trivia

In 1993 Disney produced a successful feature film entitled Cool Runnings about participating in the 1988 Olympics, which has a fictional story about the first appearance of a Jamaican bobsleigh team at the Olympic Games.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Volker Kreisl: Exotics on a serious bobsleigh mission. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . February 4, 2018, accessed April 7, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b c Clemens Blaim: Olympia Special - Inspirational Personalities: The Legend of "Cool Runnings". Retrieved April 7, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Legacy. Retrieved April 8, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME White, Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Jamaican bobsledder
DATE OF BIRTH 5th November 1964
PLACE OF BIRTH Saint Mary Parish Town , Jamaica