Underdog Jamaican Olympic Bobsled Team Helmet at RR Auction

“Feel the rhythm! Feel the rhyme! Get on up, its bobsled time!” Without a doubt, the 1993 Walt Disney film Cool Runnings has built a large following of fans over the years. What some movie fans may not know is that the comedy about the underdog Jamaican national bobsled team debut competition in the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics is based on a true story.

Not only is it based on a true story, but evidence of the team’s unique story will be available at Boston-based RR Auction in an online Olympics Memorabilia auction this summer. Opening on July 14^th, Calgary’s Metro news reports that RR Auction will accept bids on a yellow Bell helmet worn by Jamaican bobsleigh pilot Dudley Stokes. The helmet was worn during the Jamaican team’s final qualifier in the 1988 Winter Olympics.

The team captain and manager of the 1988 Jamaican bobsled team Alan Howat writes in a letter that is received with the auctioned item, “The helmet… bares the scratch marks from the famous crash when he could not get his head and helmet back in the sled.”

Besides the verifying letter, the Bell helmet also comes with a pair of orange-and-pink Smith ski goggles worn by Stokes. On the headband of the goggles is a pin reading “Jamaica Bobsleigh Team, Calgary 1988.”

This initial Jamaican bobsled team took the world by storm when they entered the Winter Olympics, a tropical nation in a winter sport, something found bizarre and fascinating by the entire world. The five-man team had never even experienced snow before and practiced under the blaring sun in Jamaica. They needed to borrow spare sleds from other countries to even compete in the games. All of these details were what solidified their story as an underdog, and inspired Disney to create a film inspired by them several years later.

During one of the qualifiers, they lost control of their sled and crashed, disqualifying them from the medal. It is the scratches from this crash that can be found on the Bell helmet, a truly unique mark of Olympics history with this gear from the special tropical debut team.

This is a rare and special item for anyone who is a fan of the film or the Olympics. The helmet is estimated to auction at RR Auction for $3500+.

More items from the Olympic auction can be previewed at RR Auction’s website. For continued updates on rare and historic documents and artifacts for auction, follow RR Auction’s Twitter at https://twitter.com/rrauction and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/rrauction/.