Trinidad and Tobago bobsleigh team slides to first 4-man bronze in Utah

TT bobsledders Axel Brown (R) and Shakeel John compete, on Saturday, at the North American Cup in Park City, Utah. - via Axel Brown
TT bobsledders Axel Brown (R) and Shakeel John compete, on Saturday, at the North American Cup in Park City, Utah. - via Axel Brown

Trinidad and Tobago’s bobsleigh team continued their fine run of form by sliding to a bronze medal in the four-man event at the North American Cup in Park City, Utah, on Wednesday.

At Utah Olympic Park, TT’s quartet of Axel Brown, Shakeel John, Xaverri Williams and Adam Hames clocked a total of one minute and 38.24 seconds (1:38.24) after contesting two heats.

TT completed the first slide in 49.24 seconds and the second in an improved 49 seconds flat.

Their combined time was impressive since it fell just .64 seconds behind eventual gold medallists Korea. The Koreans stopped the clock on 1:37.60.

Coming in second was Canada in 1:38.16. Rounding off the top five finishers was USA in 1:38.21 and Czech Republic, in 1:38.59, respectively.

This was TT’s first top-three performance despite being awarded a medal for fourth place finish in the two-man event on Saturday. In bobsleigh the top six teams get medals.

After the historic win, team captain Brown was over the moon. He said this was the first time a Caribbean four-man team had attained podium status.

“We are incredibly excited to be making history for both TT, and the Caribbean. This is something I’ve wanted for my whole career, and I've been in the sport for nine years.

“However, it's bigger than me, as a team we were able to come together and create something really special. We are more than the sum of our parts.”

Brown said that after finishing fourth in three consecutive performances, the team was elated to finally secure a podium place.

“We’ve made the next step. Though we’re the first to do it, hopefully we have inspired others to follow in our footsteps and to beat our records sometime in the future. This is the start of something, not just a pinnacle!”

Comments

"Trinidad and Tobago bobsleigh team slides to first 4-man bronze in Utah"

More in this section