Well, you would certainly think there's ice somewhere in Jamaica if our participation and planned participation in the winter Olympics is anything to go by.  Jamaica's coordinates are 18 15 N, 77 30 W which puts the island just between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.  What this means is that there is no ice...apart from the cubes in your scotch on the rocks.  However, Jamaica has found a way to compete at the highest level on ice and has plans to make even greater forays into the Olympic games.

It all started with the four man Bobsled team that debuted at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta.  They didn't amount to much at those games, but were such a hit that a movie, Cool Runnings, was made about their exploits.

The team returned to the Olympics in the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France and stunned many of their critics by finishing in 14th place, ahead of the United States, Russia, France and Italy. The two man team finished in tenth place, beating the Swedish team.  Jamaica reached the pinnacle of the sport in 2000 when the team won the Gold medal at the World Push Bobsled Championships.

Although failing to qualify for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, the Jamaicans do plan on having a bobsled team for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Skeleton

But the Bobsled team might not be the only competitors representing Jamaica in 2010.  

Rindy Loucks, or Rasta Rindy, as some critics call her, plans to "make Jamrock proud" as a skeleton racer.

Skeleton is an Olympic sport, similar to luge, in which the athlete lies in the prone position on a small sled with their head at the front, which allows them to see where they are going at 130km/hour.

A Canadian citizen with affiliation to Jamaica through marriage, Loucks has been trying for years to get on the Canadian team.  However, she has not been able to meet the push time criterion that an athlete must attain before advancing to the selection races for the national teams.  

 "Although I have good down times and am talented in my driving, I have not been able to make this push time criterion and, therefore, I have never made it onto a Canadian national team", Loucks said.  She has made it known that her intentions are to "kick some arse" in the seasons to come and gain her berth at the 2010 games.  

Rindy, who is ranked 85th in the world, will remark that “I am still not ranked last in the world” and “to be ranked anything is better than to not be ranked at all.”

Rasta Rindy Loucks lives in Pitt Meadows and is now training as the lone member of the Jamaican women’s skeleton team for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Skicross

Jamaica could also be represented in ski cross; a new sport being introduced at this year's Beijing Olympics in China.

Skicross (also known as skiercross or skier-X) is a relatively new type of skiing competition. It is based on the snowboard discipline of Boarder Cross. Despite it being a timed racing event, it is often considered part of the newschool movement of freestyle skiing because it incorporates terrain features traditionally found in freestyle.

In a time trial or qualification round, every competitor skis down the course, which is built to encompass both naturally occurring terrain and manmade features like jumps, rollers, banks — whatever the course builder can imagine.

World ranked skier Errol Kerr is seeking to represent the island in this event at the Olympics.  Not many people know this, but Jamaica actually has a Ski Association.  Its president, Richard Salm, speaking on HITZ 92FM's sports discussion programe, Sportsgrill, explained the drive to have Kerr representing Jamaica in ski cross at the Olympics.

"We have a world ranked skier who has a possibility of actually getting among the medals in a new event at the Olympics. In this event, Errol is ranked 24th in the world and he's only been doing this for a year ... I think that there is a very serious prospect that Jamaican can achieve something sensational," he said.  

Kerr finished a surprising fifth at last year's ESPN X Games after receiving a special invite. He is a professional skier who is American but whose father is from Westmoreland said he is ready to fly the black, green and gold at the Olympics.

"I'm the youngest one on the US team by number of years (and I'm) kind of their protégé so I will just love to bring that here and bring the whole island instead of just myself in America," he said.

Kerr, 22, has already met the Minister of Sport, 'Babsy Grange, the head of the Sport Development Foundation, David Mais, and several media and potential sponsors.

"The reactions, particularly from the minister, have been very enthusiastic and positive," said Salm. "We are hoping to visit a few more corporations. I'm pretty confident we'll get there but it's not going to happen overnight," he said.

The time-frame for getting everything in order is small as Kerr must state his allegiance by June 1 with the International Ski Federation.

"With the sponsorship, I'd be able to have my own coach and travel around the world to all the big events," Kerr said. "I want to run a full World Cup season next year and get my ranking up to the top 10. That's about 13 to 15 races and the World Championships are also next year in Japan."