Freelance Correspondent
T&T’s bobsleigh team continues to carve out its place in sporting history, becoming the first Caribbean team in nearly 30 years to compete at the Bobsleigh World Cup.
The “Soca Sliders” competed at the Olympia Bob Run in St Moritz-Celerina, Switzerland, the world’s oldest track and the birthplace of bobsleigh racing.
Led by driver Axel Browne and featuring team members DeAndre and Shaquille John, along with Xaverri Williams, the team narrowly missed a top-20 finish by just 0.18 seconds, a result that would have qualified them for the final heat.
“For us to be out there alone was history-making, but for us to also beat Austria and Italy, challenging for a final heap was something special,” Browne said.
Competing in the first of nine World Cup events this season, the team also had to contend with the absence of their top push athlete, Tom Harris, who is recovering from a fractured wrist. Harris is expected to rejoin the squad for the final six races of the season, providing a boost to their chances of achieving a top-20 finish.
The Bobsleigh World Cup is one of the sport’s highest levels of competition, comparable to track and field’s Diamond League. Qualifying for the event requires meeting strict criteria through continental championships like the North American and European Cups, where T&T has been competing in recent years.
Reflecting on the team’s progress, Browne laid out what is ahead for the “Soca Sliders”.
“Going forward we have eight more of those races, which is similar to the F1 for anyone familiar with that, we will train and race at one circuit for a week and then we move to a next and a next,” he said.
The team is focused on continuing its upward trajectory. It hopes to qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan in both the two-man and four-man events, a feat that would mark another first for T&T.
The “Soca Sliders” will again attempt a top-20 finish next weekend in leg two of the IBSF World Cup.
