COOL RUNNINGS

'''Cool Runnings''' is a 1993 comedy film directed by Jon Turteltaub. It is loosely based on the exploits of the Jamaican Bobsled Team at Calgary, Alberta in the 1988 Winter Olympics. It stars Leon, Doug E. Doug, Malik Yoba, Rawle D. Lewis and John Candy. It is currently out on DVD.

Contents

Plot

Box office

Cast and Characters

Real-life discrepancies

Characters

Organizations

Competition

Funding

See also

External links

Plot

Irving ("Irv") Blitzer is an American bobsled double gold medallist at the 1968 Winter Olympics, who finished first in two events again in 1972 but was disqualified for cheating and retired in disgrace to Jamaica, where he leads a destitute life as a bookie. He is approached by top 100 m runner Derice Bannock and two fellow sprinters, Junior Bevil and Yul Brenner who had all failed to qualify for the 1988 Summer Olympic when Junior tripped at the trials, and a pushcart driving champion Sanka Coffie, who all wish to use his previous experience as a coach in order to compete in the Winter Olympics as bobsledders.
The first half of the movie centers on Jamaica, assembling and training the team. After Blitzer is convinced to coach the team, the three months of practice begins, initially resulting in embarrassment. However, the four men get used to the sport and make their way to Calgary and the Olympics.

The second half of the movie is the drama of the Olympics, and the fish-out-of-water scenario of the laid-back tropical Jamaicans in both the white-dominated sport and the cold of Calgary winter. The Jamaicans' first day on the track results in, once more, embarrassment, and a last-place finish. The second day would prove better; the Jamaican team finished with an incredible time of 56:46 seconds which put them in eighth position. For the first half of the final day's race it looked as though they would break the world bobsled speed record, until tragedy struck; their rickety sled (an old practice sled Blitzer acquired from the US team) fell apart towards the end of their run, leaving them metres short of the finish line. However, the team lifted their sled up and walked across the finish line to rousing applause from onlookers, even antagonists such as Junior's father (who proudly bears his Jamaican bobsled team T-shirt beneath his jacket), Josef Grull (East German driver who had ridiculed the Jamaicans constantly) and Kurt Hemphill who was a member of the Olympic alliance. The team, at the end, feels accomplished enough to return in four years to the next winter Olympics, which they did, though neither they, nor any other team in the world, has ever come close to matching the run in which their sled fell apart.

Box office

★ U.S. Gross Domestic Takings: $68,856,263

★ Other International Takings: $86,000,000

★ Gross Worldwide Takings: $154,856,263

★ Jamaican Takings: $46,271

Cast and Characters

★ John Candy - Irving 'Irv' Blitzer

★ Leon Robinson - Derice Bannock

★ Doug E. Doug - Sanka Coffie

★ Malik Yoba - Yul Brenner

★ Rawle D. Lewis - Junior Bevil

Real-life discrepancies

Characters

The bobsledders portrayed in the film are fictional, although the people who conceived the idea of a Jamaican bobsled team were inspired by pushcart racers and tried to recruit track sprinters.
Irving Blitzer is a fictional character; the real team had several trainers, none of whom were connected to any cheating scandal.

Organizations

A fictional sports governing body, the "International Alliance of Winter Sports" appears in the film (in reality, every winter sport has its own separate governing body). Also, England is listed on the board shown in the tavern in Jamaica, whereas in reality Great Britain is the team in which English athletes are involved.

Competition

The bobsled competition in the films consists of three individual runs, whereas in reality the Olympic bobsled competition is two runs a day held over a two-day period.

Funding

In the film, one of the bobsledders decides to sell his car to raise money to get to Calgary after being turned down for sponsorship. In reality, the team got to Calgary on corporate funding.

See also

★ Tropical nations at the Winter Olympics

External links

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★ Devon Harris Cool Runnings Team Member