Matthew Wekpe: From rugby player to Jamaican bobsleigh Olympian in 17 months 

Jamaican bobsleigh brakeman Matthew Wekpe’s journey to the Winter Olympics is worthy of its own movie.

Just 17 months before Beijing 2022, the UK-based rugby player, who represented Jamaica in both 15s and 7s, had never stepped on ice before.

But the pandemic split Jamaica's four-man bobsleigh team up, with the Caribbean-based team members unable to join their UK colleagues for training.

An urgent call from pilot Shanwayne Stephens for UK-based Jamaican rugby players to try out for the four-man sled went out, and Wekpe answered... eventually.

“I didn't initially put my hand up straight away,” Wekpe admitted in an interview with Olympics.com.

“But after giving it a bit more thought, and because I wasn't doing anything else I said, “Let's give it a go."

Wekpe was an immediate hit at the try out, was brought into the team, and his new Winter Olympic dream began.

”Three weeks later, which is around 13 weeks before the Olympics, I stepped into a bobsleigh for the first time. It was also the first time I’d stepped on ice!”

Matthew Wekpe: We became a brotherhood

The first time the four-man crew competed together was on 18 September 2021, just months before the Winter Olympics. But a lack of preparation time was far from the only challenge for Stephens, Wekpe and their pushers Ashley Watson and Rolando Reid.

Midway through the qualification event on the world’s fastest track in Whistler, the 30-year-old sled that was lent to them the Canadian team broke

“I'll never forget going around the last curve, at which point you're going 97, 98 miles an hour and pulling five-and-a-half G (Force),” Wekpe continued.

“The seat in the back actually started cracking, so I had to squeeze in order to keep it together, and took my butt off the chair. Once we completed the corner I was able to brake." - Matthew Wekpe to Olympimcs.com

Fortunately, the Canadians had another sled they could lend to the Jamaicans, which was only 20 years old.

True to form, the Jamaicans didn’t complain, learnt how to use their new sled, and managed to claim the 24th and final qualification spot for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics thanks to their North America Cup performances.

Given the challenges that the team faced, this achievement cannot be understated. But at the same time, Wekpe believes that the adversity formed an unbreakable bond between the teammates that ultimately formed the bedrock of their success.

“Before the season, we were four different characters, from two different parts of the world, and we didn't know each other,” he continued. “But we were able to come together and overcome these obstacles.

Continuing the Cool Runnings legacy

The sled issue, and the subsequent bond it forged between the Jamaican teammates was entirely reminiscent of the Cool Runnings movie storyline, which portrayed Jamaica’s first ever bobsleigh appearance at the Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics.

While Wekpe wasn’t alive to witness that event, he was a huge fan of the 1993 film, and was partly inspired by it to give the sport a go.

The rugby player-turned-bobsledder even had a lucky charm in China that served as his reminder of the legacy that he was continuing.

“The morning of the race, we left the apartment and in the grass where the snow had been falling was a little decorative egg, which I picked up and have kept with me all this time. The whole journey and just how it happened felt like it was meant to be.” Wekpe revealed, in what was a nod to the lucky egg Cool Runnings character Sanka Coffie carried around with him at the Olympics.

“So I call it my lucky egg and it was quite funny as a cliche of the movie. But to be able to represent something that is so iconic and has so much history was an honour.”

Becoming an Olympian after less than two years in bobsleigh had a profound impact on Wekpe’s self-confidence.

_“_Miss Arthur, one of my secondary school teachers once said, “Sometimes it might take him a bit longer, but Matthew will always get there,” the 32-year-old said.

_“_Life hasn't always been easy. I lost my father when I was young and we all have struggles. There's been points in sport where I've wanted to give up. But you're never going to know unless you give it a go.

“Sport can empower you for greatness and if you look at what I'm doing at my age, becoming an Olympian with so little experience, it will stick with me for life. It’s a matter of believing in yourself and you can achieve greatness.”

Embracing his African heritage

Chris Stokes was one of the original Jamaican bobsleigh four that competed at the Calgary 1988 Games.

After a successful career that included a further three Winter Olympics appearances, he became the CEO and Chairman of the Jamaica Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, and didn’t need a second invitation to bring Wekpe into the set up for Beijing 2022.

"When I got to talk to him I said, 'Matthew what's your name? He said, Mathew Wilson," Stokes told Olympics.com. "And I said, Matthew what's your name? He said Matthew Wekpe, and I said, be proud of that. And he's been keeping that name."

“We're developing young men and young women to be proud of who they are. I'm a Jamaican in bobsleigh, and part of my family's from Africa. He didn't have to conform to be accepted, and that is part of what Jamaica bobsleigh represents.

_“_That's a success in the Olympic Movement for me. He had had the courage to step up in our sport, and he’s now standing tall.”

Aiming for Commonwealth Games

Wekpe’s inspirational journey is a classic example of what can be achieved if you believe in yourself. 

As such, Stokes confirmed that the athlete would always have a future in Jamaican bobsleigh, helping nurturing the next generation of talent through to the programme.

With his Olympic appearance secured, Wekpe has turned his attention to appearing in another major sporting event: the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, UK.

“My main goal now is to compete as part of the rugby sevens team there, and then there is the Rugby Sevens World Cup that's in South Africa.”

But what of his ambitions in bobsleigh? Has he race suit and helmet been hung up for good?

“Am I going to push for Milano Cortina 2026? You’ll have to find out!”