A British sprinter who once ran the 100 meters in under 10 seconds while delivering pizzas to make ends meet is now competing at his third Winter Olympics representing Jamaica’s bobsleigh team after coming out of retirement. Joel Fearon stunned the athletics world by breaking the revered 10 second barrier with a time of 9.96 seconds at the England Athletics Championships, becoming the fastest man in the UK that year, but the achievement came just after the cutoff date to qualify for Team GB at Rio 2016. The Coventry born athlete has since competed in bobsleigh for Great Britain, Switzerland, and Jamaica over 15 years, winning bronze at Sochi 2014 that was only awarded five years later due to retrospective doping bans, and even being bought by Switzerland’s team where he helped their junior driver reach the Olympics.
After his sister was murdered in 2023, Fearon retired from all sport while struggling with anxiety and fear of leaving his family alone, but coming out of retirement to represent Jamaica through his Jamaican father and Caribbean grandparents has given him fresh focus and brought joy to his grieving family. The 37 year old initially joined Jamaica’s team in an athlete and coach role but ended up back in the sled, winning all six races he competed in and joking that they will probably have him pushing a few more times before he is done. His father expressed pride for the first time about his son’s sport, and Fearon says his new teammates have become like brothers to him as he takes on a dad role watching them excel. The crossover from sprinting to bobsleigh connects him to the famous 1993 film Cool Runnings about Jamaica’s bobsleigh team, with Fearon saying he went from being an Olympic medallist to becoming a Disney character and part of the most famous team in the world.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/articles/ckgl52gej21o#comments
