The head coach of the Jamaican women’s bobsled team has quit just days before competition is set to get underway. Coach Sandra Kiriasis left the team after claiming the Jamaican Bobsleigh Federation forced her to change roles from driving coach to track performance analyst, which would have taken away access to the Jamaican athletes. According to the BBC, the first to report the story, Kiriasis claims ownership of the team’s sled and has threatened to take it with her:
Jamaican women’s bobsled coach quits, threatens to take team’s sled
Competition is scheduled to start on Sunday.
Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images For IBSF
German Sandra Kiriasis, an ex-Olympic champion, claims she was forced out when her role was changed, and that she is legally responsible for the sled.
Kiriasis wants payment for it but the Jamaica Bobsleigh Federation declined and is disputing she owns the sled.
”I’ve never known such disappointment in this sport, in my life,” she said.
The sled situation is currently up in the air despite the Jamaican Bobsleigh Federation denying that the team will be forced to pull out of the event.
This puts a huge wrench in the plans of the Jamaican women’s bobsled team, which made history by becoming the first women’s team from the country to go to the Olympics. In the 1988 Olympics, the Jamaican men participated in Calgary, which was the inspiration for the movie Cool Runnings.
Hopefully the team can get both the sled and coach situation resolved. We’ll update this story with any further information.
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