The Jamaican bobsled team can't catch a break. After the team qualified for the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, they didn't have enough money to attend. After raising the funds to make the trip, Winston Watts and brakeman Marvin Dixon missed their connecting flight in Moscow after being delayed by bad weather in New York. The team was unable to make their first practice runs once they finally arrived because their luggage and vital equipment was missing, the New York Daily News reports.
"The sled is here," driver Winston Watts told the Daily News. "But the blades that we put our heart out to get, the airline maybe left them back in New York. None of us have clothing."
While their competitors got in some unofficial training runs on the Sanki Sliding Center track, Watts was working the phone trying to find out how to get the runners for their two-man sled as well as all their sliding gear. Watts told the Daily News that if the helmets and sliding suits don’t arrive by Thursday the team will have to borrow from other teams so that they can practice.
"I do have a backup plan," the 46-year-old Watts, who came out of retirement earlier this season, told the Daily News.
"We do have a lot of guys here that want to help us, so I'm excited to see what's going to be the outcome tomorrow."
Until their luggage is found and returned, Watts doesn't have any clothes other than the tracksuit and yellow baseball cap he wore to Sochi. Yet, the Daily News reports that the team has refused to let this latest snag ruin their hopes.
"There's no such word to explain how I felt being here," Watson told the newspaper. "The atmosphere, the fans, the friends. It's pretty exciting. We are the most lovingest people, so every moment is always positive. We always keep smiling. That is our motto."
Read more at the New York Daily News.
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