Iam Dudley 'Tal Stokes, original Bobsled Driver for Jamaica, 4 time Olympian, inspiration for 'Cool Runnings' airbnb host AMA!

In the movie, a great deal of attention is given to how much the other teams hated the Jamaicans when it seems that, in reality, you guys got a ton of support and respect from your competitors. Which is closer to the truth - did you guys feel welcomed in Calgary or totally exiled?

Very few people showed any resentment. The vast majority of people, and remember we were preparing for the Olympics for 3 months, in Europe and the USA, we got a lot of help from a lot of good people and made some good friends.

I remember watching the Olympics you competed in! What has been the most embellished tale or myth surrounding the Jamaican bobsled team that isn't 100% true?

Likely the entire ending to the movie - they crashed in a qualifying heat, not in the finals, so they didn't even compete in the rounds the movie showed, and they did not carry the sled across the line (this would have been a huge violation of the rules). Instead, they walked along the track while it was moved to the finish area by the officials.

We did not carry the sled, but we did crash in the 3rd heat of the race, on that run we posted the 7th fastest start of the race, despite my brother Chris, pushing for the 5th time.

And I've heard that the other teams weren't mean to them at all, but were actually very welcoming. But you don't have a plot without that I guess. lol.

Bad blood overplayed, most guys were very helpful.

Well, we did not carry the sled over the line!

I lived in Calgary in 1988. I hope you enjoyed your stay! Have you ever been back just for fun?

Spent many years in Calgary, as I competed until 2000, went back in 2013 and could not recognise anything.

Is there any truth to the ´Lucky Egg´Scenes in Cool Runnings?

not really, everyone had their own suspicious thing, but no egg. Would have been hard in a bobsled.

My dad went to Sandhurst, a military academy in England, and told me the plan to send a Jamaican bobsled team to the Olympics came from the military.

If true, were you given any kind of military training to participate?

Most of the athletes were from the military. I am a graduate of Sandhurst myself, (SMC RCC 27) the guys with the original idea could not find any athletes to do this, so they went to the military, who ordered some folk to go.

How do you feel about this incident?. Basically, a few coaches at a school dressed up as your team. This was at my old high school a few years back, and many of the people defended them, although thought it was a silly idea to go blackface. Although the news came, they mainly showcased people against it. It would be nice to know your opinion, even though it is too late to change much. (Coach was fired for separate reasons, but this was a big strike on his reputation.)

Now it has become unacceptable for persons to 'blackface', there is a history to this, that I did not really understand until this incident, which by the way was one of 2 or 3 in that year. I do not think that the persons intended any disrespect, and maybe misjudged the weight of sentiment as it is now. The entire thing is unfortunate.

Thank you for your answer. It was very unfortunate and ruined his reputation, despite not even announcing the names of the other three. It probably led him to make bad decisions later since he lost total respect. In case you want to know why he was fired, he was selling jerseys for football, took the money, and then never gave out the jerseys. Before this incident, he was a very respectful (but strict) man.

So sorry to hear that, there were no winners.

What is the funniest story you have from staying at the Olympic village?

not while staying, but after Nagano, Japan, I heard they removed thousands of used condoms from the roof, once the snow had melted.

Do you feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme?

not as often as I should!

Have you ever bobsled with Usain Bolt?

Would be hard to get him into a bobsled!

Im a HUGE fan of the movie Cool Runnings and of course i've read somewhat about the history of it all, but I was just curious what your perception of the movie is compared to how things really went down in real life?

Actually doing it was no comedy. There were nights we went hungry. There were times living 5 to a room, there were fights, anger and doubt. Not to mention the small matter of going downhill at 80mph, 3-4 times an afternoon. It was much harder, with a lot less laughter.

Who had the idea first to start a bobsled team? Also Cool Running was one of my favorite movies growing up.

An American guy, William Maloney was looking for a way to march in an opening ceremony at an olympics. So he came up with the team as there was not one, and not going to be one anytime soon, and he did!

Now, with your AirBNB, how's your experience been with renting out your space? No one's damaged anything or left messes, right? I'm just hoping not because that seems like it could be a headache.

That could be a headache, but what you find is that because the airbnb system is so dependent on reviews, from both guests and hosts, everyone is on their best behaviour. We have hosted over 400 people with no really bad experiences. As it has become more popular more people who do not really understand how it works have been using it, so it is not as homey, but more professional than when we first began. But ok.

Oh cool, thanks for the AMA.

Was the experience of being in Calgary in winter as great of a shock as it was portrayed in the movie?

yes and know, it was a shock, but not for the reasons shown in the movie. We were used to cold and hard work in bad conditions, but not to the publicity we had in Canada

1: Push kart. Is that thing, I need to get that going over here in canada! 2: What did you get up to after your Olympic runs? 3: Do you still reside in Jamaica?

y Push cart in Canada, that would be something. You have some hilly areas. Now we live in the Turks and Caicos, Providenciales.

After the Calgary Olympics, what was the perception of winter sports in Jamaica? Was there a greater interest towards them or was it a sort of one time thing in which it only had a niche following?

it only really became a niche, jamaicans are accustomed to winning, and we were not, then it is very hard work in cold climes, so not many athletes were interested. There is renewed interest every 4 years.

Can you describe any involvement, story development, discussion with the movie studios? And how different or correct were parts and inspiration of your life? Any interaction with John Candy?

Never personally met John Candy, though others from the team did. Spent a lot of time reading scripts and going back and forth with writers so we could get something everyone could live with. We were interviewed extensively before the writing, so a lot of what you see is based in truth, probably more than some documentaries out there!

You ded mon?

still kicking! and enjoying it!

Of the training from the movie, how much of that, if any, was accurate or even close to things you actually did? Ie. The dry land runs, being stuck in a ice cream truck

I wish we had a kissing booth! But the closest part was the push sled we built to practice our start.

Are you going to answer any questions or just wait for this post to be completely ignored and get high?

Sorry, I lost the post, then reddit said i had insufficient proof, i jumped through some hoops, set another time and then saw all these things coming up, which i am answering in faith as I do not know whether there is an AMA or not.

Did Disney hire any of you guys as consultants for Cool Runnings? If so, any memorable stories from being on set?

Devon Harris was on set, I not, Dawn Steel once bought me breakfast though.

Do you make any money off the movie?

Not nearly enough, we had a bad deal at the beginning, a percentage of profit, which the movie is still trying to make.

Do you hate cold weather?

At times, at other times it was fun. Once in Calgary Canada we spent 6 weeks with temperatures getting to as low as -50C. One day it warmed up to 0 and people were playing in the snow in bathing suits

How did Jamaica decided on starting a Olympic Bobsled team?

One man's dream, to walk in an Olympic opening ceremony, and this was the only way to do it!

Did you REALLY feel the rhythm?

On the best days, when you did really well, you felt a lot of Rhythm