Olympic Cinderellas: The curious case of Mexico’s bobsleigh brothers

José Eduardo, Jorge Antonio, Luis Adrián and Roberto Tames arrived at the Calgary 1988 Olympic Games in a school bus without heat. But what they did have was a big dream.

They were there in Canada to write a new chapter of Olympic history.

The Tames boys were not the first Mexicans to compete at a Winter Olympics (Mexico became one of the first Spanish-speaking countries to take part in 1928). But when they stepped off the bus, fingers frozen and muscles stiff, they were about to become the first quartet of brothers to compete in the same sport in the same edition of the Winter Olympic Games.

"Being in Calgary was an idea I had since I was a child. I loved to watch bobsleigh on TV. I fell in love with the sport -- they [the bobsledders] were my heroes. I felt as if I were a pilot," recalled Roberto Tames in an interview with Mexican newspaper El Informador in 2018.

Roberto’s unusual dream drove him forward toward a humble slice of Olympic history – if not much hope of a podium finish.

A sled but no snow

He managed to persuade his reluctant brothers and they began training in a wooden sled with wheels in their home state of Jalisco. Due to the lack of snow or ice, their practice runs were done on athletics tracks and asphalt slopes. They descended hills without snow all in the hunt of an outlandish dream of becoming Mexico’s first bobsleigh brothers.

"I spoke with my brothers and we wanted to take part [in the Olympics]. So we went to the National [Mexico] Committee and shared our idea. Back then I didn't even know the name of the sport! For me it was a sled on ice! They thought it was a lovely idea, but they couldn't support us with money. Anyway, we reached the Olympics," added Tames.

Training in snow-less Jalisco wasn’t enough, so the four brothers pooled their savings and hit up their father, who, despite not being a wealthy man, became the team’s main ‘sponsor.’ With what little money they had, the brothers travelled to Upstate New York with an Olympic dream tucked safely away in their luggage to learn the finer points of the sport.

And in order to keep the dream alive through the years the Tames had to work several jobs, including at a Mexican restaurant in Dallas, Texas. But finally, with a used sled, a lot of hard work and and a little bit of luck, they managed what had seemed impossible.

With only a tiny budget, they decided to drive from New York to Calgary by van. In the middle of the journey, after several accidents due to the brothers’ lack of experience driving on snow-covered wintry roads, the van finally broke down under the strain. Unable to make the repairs, the brother were forced to rent a school bus -- the one with the broken heater -- on order to reach their destination.

And once in Calgary, the venue of Roberto Tames’ long-held dream, they shone.

Not so much for their aptitude on the track, or their blinding speed around the curves -- but just for being there. "When we arrived at Calgary we were the novelty,” said Roberto of the 1988 Games, where, in the English-speaking press, they were overshadowed by the debutant Jamaican bobsled team. “The media thought that it was interesting that we were there and so they were with us all the time.”

How they held up

The Tames brothers took part in those Olympics together, but not in the way they had originally planned: all in one four-man sleigh. They opted, instead, to participate in the two-man event with Jorge and José were in one sled and Roberto and Luis Adrián in another.

Jorge and José were the victors, at least for family bragging rights. They were faster than their siblings by one hundredth of a second. In the end, the Tames brothers ended up in 36th and 37th positions respectively out of the 41 entered teams – and a full 16 seconds behind the gold-medal winning side from the USSR.

But Roberto Tames, the man who dreamed up this whole Cinderella story, wasn’t completely satisfied. He went on to take part in more Olympic Games. After Calgary 1988, he participated in both Albertville 1992 and Salt Lake City 2002.

However, Calgary remains most special to him. "The first Olympic experience is the best one,” he said. “To walk behind your national flag in the opening ceremony is the greatest moment of your life."

And in his case, he was able to share that moment with his brothers. And that’s an Olympic-size triumph in its own right.