Trinidad and Tobago bobsleigh team going for glory at Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics

Axel Brown and Andre Marcano are making history at Beijing 2022.

They form the 2-man Trinidad and Tobago bobsled team, making them the Caribbean nation's first athletes at the Winter Olympics since Salt Lake City 2002.

"(We are) the lesser known of the two Caribbean sleds," said Brown, who is also an accomplished American football player and taekwondo athlete. "Jamaica, understandably, has all the attention but we're here as well, for the first time in a while."

Brown is the pilot and Marcano is the brakeman and sprinter. The former, who has a Trinidadian mother and British father, was in need of a brakeman after he decided to switch allegiances after representing Great Britain for seven years.

That's when Marcano, who only began to bobsled in October 2021, came into the frame. On Instagram. That's right, Brown found Marcano, a three-time Trinidad National Championships finalist in track-and-field, on the social media platform.

MORE: Bobsleigh at Beijing 2022: How to watch the best teams

"We've really been against the clock"

Brown and Marcano will be competing in the 2-man bobsleigh heats in a field of 30 competitors. They are scheduled to be the 29th to slide, right before Jamaica's Shanwayne Stephens and Nimroy Turgott finish out the heat.

"I was pretty horrible on the first day," Marcano said, looking back on his time on the bobsled. "After the first day I feel, he's sending me home, he's wasting my time."

"A normal team - everybody else, the other 29 teams here - have been working together for years and years and years," said Brown. "They have rapport, they know each other inside-out as persons, as athletes. We've really been against the clock on that."

Sacrifice for Winter Olympic success

Marcano has taken unpaid leave from his job as a physical education teacher at an elementary school in New York to be here in Beijing.

"I almost had to resign because it was too much time away from work. Luckily, things worked out that I didn't have to resign and leave my job, which I love so much."

Marcano had the honour of leading out his compatriots as flagbearer in the Parade of Nations at the Opening Ceremony.

"All of Trinidad's behind us"

Brown and Marcano will have an entire nation behind them when they hit the track in the Xiaohaituo mountain area in Yanqing on Monday.

"Realistically we're here to represent our people with pride and respect, with a smile on our face, and do as well as we can," said Brown.

"What we're doing means so much to so many people, because we're not just a face in the crowd, we're the first people here in 20 years. All of Trinidad's behind us and knows what we're doing."

Their goal is to make the final 20 competitors and complete four heats at Beijing 2022. Regardless of where they finish, they will have inspired a new generation of Trinidadian sliders.

When and were to watch Team Trinidad and Tobago

Brown and Marcano will be competing in the 2-man heats 1 and 2 in bobsleigh on Monday 14 February at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre. Heat 1 is set to start at 20:05 local time, while heat 2 will begin at 21:40.

The event will be decided on Tuesday 15 February at 21:50 local time, when heat 4 is played out to see who will win the medals.

From the Opening Ceremony to athlete action, here's where and how you can watch the Winter Games in your region via the Official Olympic Broadcast Partners.

Keep up with all the action in our Live Blog updates throughout Beijing 2022, here.