Team leader and driver Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian of Jamaica corners in
the second women's unofficial bobsleigh training session at the Olympic
Sliding Centre, ahead of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, in
Pyeongchang on February 8, 2018. PHOTO | MARK RALSTON | AFP
PYEONGCHANG
The fairytale
journey of Jamaica's first female Winter Olympics team hit a major bump
Wednesday when its bobsleigh coach quit just days before they were due
to compete in Pyeongchang.
In a message on their
Twitter account the trailblazing Jamaica bobsled team announced that
their driving coach — former Olympian Sandra Kiriasis — had left.
"Sandra Kiriasis has elected not to continue her position with Jamaica Bobsleigh," the statement said.
"We
are deeply disappointed in her decision to leave the program. We thank
her for her invaluable contribution to JBSF and contributing to the
success of Jamaica's first female bobsled Olympic appearance," it added.
The announcement gave no reason for why Kiriasis had made such an abrupt departure.
The Jamaican team are making history in South Korea as the Caribbean island's first female Winter Olympic competitors.
Their
participation comes 30 years after a men's bobsleigh team made a
historic appearance at the 1988 Calgary games, a feat that provided the
inspiration for the 1993 movie "Cool Runnings."
Kathleen
Pulito, a spokeswoman for the team, said the departure of the
German-born coach would not impact their preparations and they would be
on the ice this weekend for training ahead of qualifying next week.
"We've
been approached by many nations with extra equipment, coaching staff
and we're extremely thankful," Pulito told AFP. "The Canadians have
offered assistance."
Kiriasis, 43, won a gold medal in
the two-woman bobsleigh at the Turin Olympics in 2006 and a silver in
the event in Salt Lake City in 2002.
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