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1988 Jamaican Bobsled Team

WTOP Staff | WTOP_Web_Team@wtop.com

February 5, 2014, 4:04 PM

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Jamaican Bobsled Team Devon Harris, Dudley Stokes, Michael White and Samuel Clayton of the Jamaican four-man bobsled team crash out of the Bobsleigh Fours event on Feb. 28, 1988 during the XV Olympic Winter Games at the Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

(Getty Images)
Getty Images
Dudley Stokes in action Feb. 22, 1988. (Getty Images)
Getty Images
Warrenton, Va. Mayor George Fitch, pictured here in a cowboy hat, spent time in Jamaica in 1985 as a member of the Foreign Commercial Service.

(WTOP/Alicia Lozano)
WTOP/Alicia Lozano
325278 In this file photo, George Fitch holds up a Jamaican bobsled T-shirt. He returned to Jamaica in 1987 and realized the country's athletes had the kind of physical prowess needed to success in a sport like bobsleding, he says. (WTOP/Alicia Lozano)
WTOP/Alicia Lozano
"Half the race is 'How quickly can you push this 600-pound sled before you have to jump in because you're coming up to the first curve?'" Mayor George Fitch says.

(WTOP/Alicia Lozano)
WTOP/Alicia Lozano
"If you're a good athlete, you should be able to adapt to any sport," Mayor George Fitch says.

(WTOP/Alicia Lozano)
WTOP/Alicia Lozano
Once Mayor George Fitch decided bobsledding was possible for Jamaica, he called the American Bobsleigh Federation and convinced a few members them to check out the Jamaican team, he says.

(WTOP/Alicia Lozano)
WTOP/Alicia Lozano
After Mayor George Fitch convinced the American Bobsleigh Federation to visit Jamaica, he asked his friend, a commander in the local military, to recruit Olympic-level athletes, Fitch says.

(WTOP/Alicia Lozano)
WTOP/Alicia Lozano
Mayor Fitch says he received a warm welcome from his friend in the Jamaican military:

"He was all excited. He said 'This will bring a tremendous amount of positive publicity for Jamaica at a much needed time. Right now all we're getting in the media is the negative Jamaican drug posses," Fitch says.

(WTOP/Alicia Lozano)
WTOP/Alicia Lozano
Mayor George Fitch was able to recruit four members of the Jamaican military, including a pilot, to join his Olympic team.

Pictured: A signed poster reads "Cooli' out in Calgary."

(WTOP/Alicia Lozano)
WTOP/Alicia Lozano
Bobsled driver Dudley Stokes went on to compete in other Olympics. He is pictured here Feb. 27, 1994 during four-man training at Spiral Nagano, Japan.

(Getty Images)
Getty Images
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