In February 2014, the Jamaica Bobsled Federation managed to raise almost US$200,000 to get the two-man bobsled team to the Winter Olympics in Sochi. For the next games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018, the federation is hoping that things will not be quite as frantic. It is why they have adopted a brand new approach that will see them starting with the selection of a pool of potential bobsledders in a few weeks' time.

The JBF will be holding tryouts for the 2018 team at the GC Foster College in St Catherine on May 10, starting at 7:00 am. They will be looking for athletic and explosive individuals between the ages of 18 and 26. "We need to have a paradigm shift and get things kicking in high gear early," said Devon Harris, a federation member who was a member of the original team in Calgary in 1988 that inspired a movie and the creation of a legacy.

"We backed into the Sochi Olympics, but this time we want to have a well-prepared team and, hopefully, a female team as well."

Harris said Jamaicans from all over the world are welcome to try out and can register on their website Jamaicabobsleighteam.com and email them directly from the site, or just turn up and register on the morning of the tryouts. "Once you are a Jamaican, you can enter the team trials. Basically, we are looking for people who have explosive speed and power; someone who can run pretty fast over short distances - 30 to 40 metres," Harris said.

"Track athletes are the most likely candidates, but we are also looking at shot put throwers, long jumpers, basketball players, people who are explosive, men and women."

The JBF expects to build a pool of about 20 athletes, who will be flown to the United States where their mettle will be tested. "We're going to fly them up to New York or Calgary, somewhere in the US, and see if they have the stomach for bobsledding," Harris said. "We're going to train them up, teach them how to push a sled, but in the fall we will see if they will be able to make the transition from whatever sporting background they have into becoming bobsledders." He conceded that the transition could prove difficult for some because the sport requires athletes with "colons".