Jamaican Bobsleigh Team practice winter training at Hemel Hempstead's Snow Centre (C) Matt HowellJamaican Bobsleigh Team practice winter training at Hemel Hempstead's Snow Centre (C) Matt Howell
Jamaican Bobsleigh Team practice winter training at Hemel Hempstead's Snow Centre (C) Matt Howell

Jamaican Bobsleigh Team practice winter training with a MINI Convertible at Hemel Hempstead's Snow Centre

The team took to the slopes with a MINI Convertible during the second lockdown

The Jamaican Bobsleigh Team got creative with their training during lockdown by taking to the slopes at The Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead, with a MINI Convertible.

With lockdown hampering traditional training techniques, the team - including sled pilot Shanwayne Stephens, 30, Dy’Neal Fe’ssal, 28, and Matthew Wilson, 30 - had to get creative with their training and visited the UK's largest indoor slope.

The trio pushed the MINI Convertible, wrapped in the unmissable colours of the Jamaican flag, up and down the snowy incline for the ultimate resistance training, aiming to get an edge on their competition ahead of their gruelling winter schedule.

Shanwayne said: “This second lockdown has been even harder on our training. Matt and Dy’Neal are new to the team so we’re focusing on gelling together as a team and getting them up to speed – they have never been in a bobsled or even seen one yet!

"Pushing the MINI here may seem like a bit of fun but this has been an important exercise, just being on ice is completely different to training in the summer – the toll on your body is entirely different and you use energy in different ways.

"Snow Centre is only -3 degrees, that’s pretty mild compared to what we’re normally in, and they’re already complaining about the cold!”

The team is currently training to qualify for the Beijing 2022 Winter Games, as well as various competitions across North America and Europe this season, the team’s next major event will be the World Championships in Lake Placid NY in February 2021.

Shanwayne added: “We have a big task ahead of us, but it’s doable."

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