Three Caribbean Nations at Winter Olympics

Three Caribbean nations, Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago will be among 91 from all over the world to participate in the 2022 Winter Olympics which begin in Beijing, the capital of China on February 4. The Chinese capital which hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008 will become the fist city to host both versions of the Olympics.

The Winter Olympics, by its very specialised nature, for sports contested on snow and ice, is far more restricted in participation than its summer counterpart. Even countries like the Caribbean trio mainly get their participants from persons who have lived in colder countries.

Black faces are therefore scarce at the Winter Games and the medal table will not prominently show medallists from Africa, the Caribbean or other non-white countries. The participants from Jamaica (6) and Trinidad and Tobago are mainly confined to the Bobsleigh, an event in which Jamaica broke into the news in 1998.

The Bobsleigh seems to be favoured also by black athletes who have made other teams. Thus, British athlete Montell Douglas has been selected for that event. She says:

“I am going to be one of the few black athletes in the British team. Representation matters and I understand who I represent. I represent black athletes in sport. I represent women in sport…….”

Let us wish them all the best in what is a minority venture for black athletes.