TheColorOfHockey

~ Hockey for Fans and Players of Color

TheColorOfHockey

Tag Archives: Jamaica Bobsled Team

From first place to last, black athletes were a presence at Winter Olympics

26 Monday Feb 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

2018 Winter Olympics, Jamaica Bobsled Team, Nigerian bobsled team

PYEONGCHANG, SOUTH KOREA – The most diverse Winter Olympics in history ended with black athletes on the medal stand and at the bottom of standings of their particular sport here in PyeongChang.

The cliche that “a picture is worth a thousand words” was apropos following the women’s two-person bobsled competition Wednesday night when four black women from three countries posed on the medal stand with Olympic gold, silver, and bronze around their necks.

The German team of pilot Mariama Jamanka, the daughter of a Gambian father, and brakeman Lisa Buckwitz won the gold medal; U.S. pilot Elana Meyers Taylor and brakeman Lauren Gibbs captured the silver medal; and the Canadian duo of  Kaillie Humphries and Phylicia George, who ran the 100-meter hurdles at the 2012 Olympics in London and the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, captured the bronze.

Mariama Jamanka, right, and Lisa Buckwitz, won the gold medal in the women’s two-person bobsled event at the 2018 Winter Olympics (Photo/IBSF / Eugen Eslage).

The U.S. bobsled with pilot Elana Meyers Taylor, left, and brakeman Lauren Gibbs captured the silver medal (Photo/IBSF / Eugen Eslage).

Canada’s bobsled with brakewoman Phylicia George, right, and Kaillie Humphries took home a bronze medal (Photo/IBSF / Eugen Eslage)

Meyers Taylor, who won her third Olympic medal in two Winter Games, took note of the moment.

“It shows the growth of our sport. The more eyeballs there are on the sport, it will get more diverse,” said said. “I want to represent my color and ethnicity. To be proud of our heritage is really cool. I’m proud of changing the landscape in our sport.”

Much was made these games about the presence of the first women’s bobsled teams from Jamaica and Nigeria, along with the first-time skeleton athletes from those countries and Ghana.

Lamin Dean was one of six black bobsledders on Great Britain’s team.

They didn’t fare well in competition. The Jamaican team of pilot  Jazmine Fenlator- Victorian and brakeman Carrie Russell finished 18th in the two-person bobsled event and Nigerian pilot Andigun Seun and brakeman Ngozi Onwumere finished 19th.

Nigerian skeleton athlete Simidele Adeagbo finished 20th – last – in the women’s event. On the men’s side, Anthony Watson of Jamaica was 29th and Ghana’s Akwasi Frimpong finished dead last in 30th place.

Jamaica and Nigeria being at the 2018 Winter Games generated a lot of press. But it also obscured the fact that even so-called traditional winter sports countries had a significant black presence on their teams.

The U.S. men’s hockey team failed to make it to the medal round and the Canadian women’s hockey team won a disappointing silver medal.

But U.S. forward Jordan Greenway, a Boston University junior forward and the first African-American to play for a U.S. Olympic hockey team, received good reviews for his play in PyeongChang. He scored a goal in five games.

Team Canada’s Sarah Nurse also had a goal in five Winter Olympic contests. The Hockey Hall of Fame requested and received the former University of Wisconsin forward’s white Team Canada jersey to put on display at the Toronto hockey museum.

Embed from Getty Images

Half of Great Britain’s 12-person bobsled team in PyeongChang was black. France had two black brakemen –  Vincent Castell and Dorian Hauterville –  on its five-man bobsled team.

French figure skater Mae-Berenice Meite competed in her second Winter Games – 2014 in Sochi, Russia was her first – finishing 19th in the ladies’ single free skate program. Still, she dazzled the crowd in PyeongChang with a costume change in the middle of one of her routines.

Embed from Getty Images

The parade of warm weather countries at the 2018 Winter Games included Sabrina Simader, a Kenyan Alpine skier who finished 38th in her event; Mathilde-Amivi Petitjean, a Togolese cross country skier who finished 83rd in the women’s 10-kilometer free ski competition.

Then there were the boys from Brazil -bobsledders Edson Bindilatte, Edson Ricardo Martins,, Rafael da Silva Souza, and Ordilei Pessoni. They finished 27th in the four-man event.

All this infusion of color at Winter Games prompted the BBC to write a story asking if black athletes from African countries were competing for the love of the sport or for their 15 minutes of fame, noting that several of the athletes don’t live or weren’t born in the countries they represented here.

“Africans live elsewhere in the world, not only in Africa, and they have the right to represent their country even if they don’t live in their mother country,” said Pettjean, who was born in Togo but raised in the French Alps, where she learned to ski.

Embed from Getty Images

Nigeria’s Seun, who lives in Houston, Texas, said participating in the Winter Olympics is all about growing her sport, not about seeking personal glory.

“We already have things in place now to get people interested in the process,” she said. “So we are excited to see how the sport of bobsled comes around in the continent of African.”

Germany’s Jamanka said she’s “proud that Africans start here for the African nations” but added that she won’t be switching over to the Gambian bobsled team, if they ever get one.

“I’m feeling German, and that’s why I will start for Germany for as long as possible,” she said.

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. And download the Color of Hockey podcast from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • More
  • LinkedIn
  • Print
  • Reddit
  • Telegram
  • WhatsApp
  • Skype

Like this:

Like Loading...

Black athletes competing at 2018 Winter Olympics makes it ‘Must-See TV’

03 Saturday Feb 2018

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

2018 Winter Olympics, Jamaica Bobsled Team, Jordan Greenway

SEOUL I’m old enough to remember when it was a big deal when a black person appeared on national television.

The phone in my family’s Philadelphia home would ring off the hook with relatives or friends calling to alert us that Sammy Davis Jr., Diana Ross & The Supremes, or Flip Wilson were going to be on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” “The Hollywood Palace,” or “The Andy Williams Show” that night.

Erin Jackson, U.S. long track speedskater (Photo/US Speedskating/Alienfrogg).

It was Must-See-TV in the era black and white sets, new-fangled remote controls, rabbit ears antennae, and frozen TV dinners.

New Must-See-TV moments begin Friday night with the start of the 2018 Winter Olympics. The 242-member U.S. team that will march into South Korea’s PyeongChang Olympic Stadium for the opening ceremony will be the most diverse American team in Winter Olympic history.

The U.S. team features a record 10 African-American athletes competing in bobsled, speedskating and ice hockey.

“The fact that you’re seeing black athletes competing at the highest levels, it gives promise to kids, not just the kids, but parents, too,” said Anson Carter, a black retired NationalHockey League forward who’s working the Winter Games as an in-studio analyst for NBC. “So when you turn the TV on and see these stories on NBC about these black athletes competing in the Olympics, and competing at a very high level, that will more likely open some eyes.”

Seventy-five percent of the four-member U.S. women’s bobsled team is black. Led by Elana Meyers Taylor, the team is looking to improve upon the silver and bronze medals medals they won at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.

The U.S. men’s bobsled team features Hakeem Abdul-Saboor, a former football star at the University of Virginia College at Wise, and Chris Kinney, a former GeorgetownUniversity track athlete.

Best of luck to Chris Kinney -my fellow Hoya! He is representing the USA and Georgetown on the 2018 Bobsled team! #hoyasaxa pic.twitter.com/8XOOQdrymG

— Patrick Ewing (@CoachEwing33) January 22, 2018

Speedskating legend Shani Davis returns for his fourth Winter Olympics. He’s joined by Erin Jackson, the first African-American female U.S. long track speedskating Olympian, and 18-year-old Maame Biney, the first black female U.S. short track Olympic contestant.

Jordan Greenway, a massive and massively-talented forward from Boston University, makes history as the first African-American to play for a U.S. Olympic ice hockey team. Carter is expecting big things from the 6-foot-5, 238-pound junior from Canton, New York.

“You don’t find too many players like him that are big and strong and fast,” Carter told me recently. “I don’t think it’s a token ‘Here, kid, come on to the team, we’re going to give you a chance. We’re going to try to get our black quota of players up just so we can put the story out there.’ That’s not how hockey works.”

“If you’re a black hockey player you have to be really good to play at the next level,” Carter added. “For a guy like Jordan to come and play on that team, that says a lot about his ability, that says a lot about his talent, that says a lot about how much respect he’s getting in the hockey community as a player who could be an impact player at the National Hockey League level.”

Embed from Getty Images

And the diversity in PyeongChang extends beyond the U.S. team. Jamaica is back with a bobsled team – the Caribbean island nation’s first women’s squad. They’ll be joined by the country’s first skeleton athlete.

Nigeria is in the house with its first Winter Olympics participants – a women’s bobsled team and a female skeleton athlete.

Final race before the Olympics! You can watch it LIVE at 9:15 am EST https://t.co/skENdsBHJ6 pic.twitter.com/fAQBw5C3Re

— Jamaica Bobsled Team (@Jambobsled) January 20, 2018

Not only are Seun Adigun, Akuoma Omeoga, and Ngozi Onwumere the first Olympic bobsled athletes for an African country, but they're also the first people to ever represent Nigeria at the Winter Olympics. https://t.co/Q82EbMFgEY

— Teen Vogue (@TeenVogue) January 26, 2018

Ghana also has an Olympian in skeleton, a sport where athletes zoom face-down on a twisting, frozen concrete track.

Ghana's @FrimpongAkwasi & Nigeria's @SimiSleighs make #WinterOlympics history by becoming Africa's first male and female skeleton sports athletes. They will be competing in February 2018 at #PyeongchangWinterOlympics in #South Korea. pic.twitter.com/iRDzzOHCBo

— F9 Sports 🇳🇬 (@F9SportsNG) January 25, 2018

I’m in South Korea this month covering the 2018 Winter Olympics for McClatchy Newspapers. In addition, you’ll be able to catch me occasionally on NPR. I’ll be talking Winter Olympics with host Michel Martin this Sunday on NPR’s “All ThingsConsidered” weekend edition.

Winter Olympics won’t be #OlympicsSoWhite #Olympics @williamgdouglas:https://t.co/hK2zUhza9H

— David Lightman (@LightmanDavid) February 3, 2018

So give a read and a listen. In the meantime, here are some of the folks who are adding a splash of color to the Winter Olympics.

Just 18 years old, Maame Biney is the United States’ first black female Olympic short track speedskater.

Erin Jackson skated into the history books when she became the first African-American woman to qualify for the Winter Olympics in long track speedskating (Photo/US Speedskating John Kleba).

The U.S. Women’s Bobsled National Team. Left to Right, Kehri Jones, Brittany Reinbolt, Aja Evans, Lauren Gibbs, Elana Meyers Taylor, Jamie Greubel Poser, Lolo Jones, and Briauna Jones. Evans, Gibbs, Meyers Taylor, and Greubel Poser will operate two U.S. bobsleds at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Briauna Jones will be a backup in PyeongChang (Photo/Molly Choma/USA Bobsled & Skeleton).

North Carolina’s Kimani Griffin will make his Olympic debut in long track speedskating (Photo/US Speedskating/John Kleba).

Shani Davis is competing in his fourth Winter Olympics. He’s won two gold and two silver medals in his Olympic career. (Photo/Harry E. Walker).

Introducing #TeamCunningham #qualified ✔️ #TeamUSA 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/1pXQHpOGH8

— USA Bobsled Skeleton (@USBSF) January 17, 2018

Follow the Color of Hockey on Facebook and Twitter @ColorOfHockey. Download the Color of Hockey podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • More
  • LinkedIn
  • Print
  • Reddit
  • Telegram
  • WhatsApp
  • Skype

Like this:

Like Loading...

Busting a sports myth one bobsled run at a time

28 Wednesday Dec 2016

Posted by William Douglas in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

2014 Winter Olympics, 2018 Winter Olympics, Adrian Adams, Briauna Jones, Jamaica Bobsled Team, North Carolina A&T State University, U.S. Bobsled Team, University of North Carolina-Charlotte

We’ve talked in this space before about the supposed “sports that we don’t do.”

You know, black folks don’t like/play hockey, don’t/can’t swim, don’t play polo, don’t do chess, don’t like winter sports.

The 2014 Winter Olympics opened a lot of people’s eyes that when it comes to blacks and bobsledding, we are more than just Jamaica.

The U.S. Women’s Bobsled Team featured five women of color. The sisters of sled are back on the track in 2016-17, and they have a new member, rookie Briauna Jones, a former track athlete at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.

The U.S. Women's Bobsled National Team. Left to Right, Kehri Jones, Brittany Reinbolt, Aja Evans, Lauren Gibbs, Elana Meyers Taylor, Lolo Jones, and Briauna Jones (Photo/Molly Choma/USA Bobsled & Skeleton).

The U.S. Women’s Bobsled National Team. Left to Right, Kehri Jones, Brittany Reinbolt, Aja Evans, Lauren Gibbs, Elana Meyers Taylor, Jamie Greubel Poser, Lolo Jones, and Briauna Jones (Photo/Molly Choma/USA Bobsled & Skeleton).

On the men’s side, there are two brothers: Adrian Adams, a former North Carolina A&T State University football player, and Chris Kinney, a former Georgetown University hurdler.

The crew of the four-man sled on the U.S. Men's Bobsled National Team. Left to right, Christopher Kinney, Adrian Adams, Frank Del Duca, and Codie Bascue (Photo/Molly Choma/ USA Bobsled & Skeleton).

The crew of the four-man sled on the U.S. Men’s Bobsled National Team. Left to right, Christopher Kinney, Adrian Adams, Frank Del Duca, and Codie Bascue (Photo/Molly Choma/ USA Bobsled & Skeleton).

I’ve chronicled the journeys  of Jones and Adams from the tack and gridiron to bobsled for McClatchy Newspapers. Please take a moment and learn about these fascinating myth-busters who hope to compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.

 

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • More
  • LinkedIn
  • Print
  • Reddit
  • Telegram
  • WhatsApp
  • Skype

Like this:

Like Loading...

Recent Posts

  • Asian & Pacific Islander heritage players on 2020-21 team rosters in pictures
  • Meet the Black players on NCAA women’s hockey rosters in 2020-21
  • Jaden Lindo adds new chapter to ‘Soul on Ice’ by winning hockey championship
  • Sarah Nurse seeks gold at IIHF world championship after winning Olympic silver
  • Hockey Family Photo Album, Page 2

Archives

  • May 2021
  • February 2021
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • April 2013
  • December 2012

Categories

  • John Tortorella
  • nhl.com
  • Uncategorized

Hockey Links

  • American Collegiate Hockey Association
  • Black Ice Book
  • Detroit Hockey Association
  • Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation
  • Fort Dupont Ice Arena
  • Hasek's Heroes
  • Hockey is for Everyone
  • Hockeyland Canada
  • Ice Hockey in Harlem
  • International Ice Hockey Federation
  • Jamaica Olympic Ice Hockey Federation
  • Kevin Weekes Online
  • NHL official website
  • NHL Uniforms
  • Ted's Take
  • The American Hockey League
  • The ECHL
  • TSN
  • USA Hockey

Powered by WordPress.com.

 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: