If n'' Howard Siler gone,'' the coach of the legendary Cool Runnings

All ages'' sixty-nine years has off Howard Siler,'' the coach who in 1988 led the team in Calgary Jamaican bobsled at the historic first Olympic participation.

Wednesday 16 July 2014 3 minutes reading time

Siler native of Clermont, Florida, in 1987 took over the affairs of the newly formed national of Jamaica, teaching the fundamentals of the bobsleigh athletes Caribbean, which until then had never remotely thought to participate in the Winter Olympics. Training and subsequent calls for Olympic qualification lit'' s media interest towards this "strange" formation, which became famous at the Calgary Olympics in 1988 under the name of "Cool Runnings". On that occasion the'' crew headed by Jamaican pilot Devon Harris entered in the legend. The four Caribbean after two runs in which they revealed some difficulties in the third amazed all downhill for the'' excellent time to push that allowed him to reduce the gap by the big bob world. But it was "unfortunate" final round to consecrate the Myth of Cool Runnings. The bob of Jamaica in fact, it poured a few corners from the finish line and after a few moments of suspense bobbisti the four left the track to the cheers of the audience. The story went around the world and a few years Later Disney thought well to provide for such a tribute. The film titled "Cool Runnings - Four below zero" was a big hit movie and the role of Howard Siler was played by the late actor John Candy, although in the film the name given to the coach of Jamaica was pure fantasy. The figure of Siler remains strongly linked to the undertakings of Jamaica's bobsled, but must never be forgotten by his dignified past bobsledder who gave him a bronze medal in the four-man bob World as well as five national titles. With the death of Howard Siler a small piece of the history of the bob is gone, even if the legend of Cool Runnings which he has built, and will continue to remain etched in the minds of fans of bob for many generations.

Alessandro Genuzio

Social media engagement