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SOCHI — The two couldn't be more incongruous a tropical island nation and an ice-lined race track. Throw in a bobsled and, somehow, it seems the two go hand in hand.
Who doesn't love Jamaica? Cool Runnings is back.
"I mean I think like everybody else, 'Cool Runnings' was my history class in the sport of bobsledding," said Aja Evans of U.S. Women's Bobsled team.
After a 12-year absence, the Jamaican Boblsed Team is back at the Olympics, and the Olympic community has treated it very well.
"Oh my goodness, man, it's unreal," Jamaican captain Winston Watts said. "I feel like I'm the king of Russia."
While king may be a stretch, it's like team captain Watts and teammate Marvin Dixon are quite the celebrities in Sochi.
"We're special, man," Watts said. "The thing is because we're so loving, caring and we're fun people. You know we're from the tropics. And it's unbelievable that people from the tropics can do a winter sport and be so good in a winter sport. It's opened so much people's eyes throughout the world."
One of those people is luger Shiva Keshavan. A five-time Olympian, Keshavan saw "Cool Runnings" while attending a sports camp as a kid growing up in India.
Shiva Keshavan: "That was really inspiring for me," Keshavan said. "Even then of course the goal wasn't really to make it to the Olympics but you know the dreams are building up from there."
The movie may be its claim to fame, but Watts is ready to change that, and in Sochi, show just how far they've come since that historic team in 1988.
"I want more people knowing that Jamaica's not here as bunch of jokers," Watts said. "We're a serious contender just like the Russians, the Germans, the Americans just to name a few."
