the men's four-man jamaican bobsled team went to the olympics in 1988.
the men's four-man jamaican bobsled team went to the olympics in 1988.
when did the men's four-man jamaican bobsled team go to the olympics?
1988
the 1988 winter olympics in calgary, alberta, canada attracted a large number of tropical nations, including costa rica, fiji, guam, guatemala, jamaica, netherlands antilles, the philippines, puerto rico, and the united states virgin islands. the jamaican bobsled team became a fan favorite at these games and were later the inspiration of the 1993 motion picture "cool runnings". in the 1994 winter olympics six years later, the jamaican four-man sled placed a creditable fourteenth, ahead of the united states and russia, while a jamaican bobsledder lascelles brown won silver for canada in 2006.
tropical nations at the winter olympics
according to leon, "the script has been following me around for 3 years." leon signed on when gibson was then the director at the time. leon told "the seattle times", "i was signed more than a year before we actually started." doug got involved with the film in 1990: "i found "cool runnings" three years ago, when my agent had it on his desk. i knew about the actual event it's based on, the jamaican bobsled team that went to the '88 olympics, and even though it's based pretty loosely i thought it made a great yarn." at the time of doug's audition, chechik was attached as the director. doug told "the baltimore sun" "...i got the offer to play sanka, the guy i'd wanted to play from the very beginning." lewis had very little experience and was not even allowed to audition at first. he told "the seattle times", "i was hired to read lines to auditioning actors for just one day. that turned into three weeks. at first they told me they were looking for names, big stars, so i wouldn't be considered, but then they asked me to do a screen test." he also told "the baltimore sun", "i came in to this film at first to coach the players in the authentic accents." lewis was officially hired in november 1992. when asked by "empire" how he got involved with the film, yoba was introduced to the casting director, jackie brown, by "a gentleman by the name of jamal joseph." at the time of yoba's official casting, gibson was still slated to direct. yoba later told "entertainment weekly" that he wrote the jamaican bobsled song for his audition. lewis claimed that the executives at disney wanted kurt russell for the role of coach blitzer. however, john candy personally insisted on portraying the coach and agreed to take a pay cut to do the movie. according to yoba, scott glenn was also considered for the role. cuba gooding, jr., jeffrey wright, and eriq la salle were each considered for a role as one of the four jamaican bobsledders.
cool runnings