RAF gunner who trained for bobsled by pushing Mini qualifies for Winter Olympics
AN RAF gunner who trained for the bobsled by pushing a Mini around a city in lockdown has qualified for the Winter Olympics.
L/Cpl Shanwayne Stephens, 31, will represent Jamaica in Beijing next month in a bobsleigh team with Rolando Reid, Ashley Watson and Matthew Wekpe.
He made the Queen giggle in May, 2020 when he explained his training method in Peterborough as she chatted to service personnel on Zoom.
Shanwayne said yesterday that the four-man team’s success echoed 1993 film Cool Runnings about a Jamaican team in the 1988 winter games.
The athlete, who is travelling back from qualifiers in Austria, said: “Our story isn’t too far from that.
"It means a lot to us, the sport and Jamaica as a whole.”
"The support from the RAF has been magnificent, they gave me the opportunity to go to my first trials and have given me the time to train.
"I want to thank them for that opportunity."
