After 24 years, the fire is back on ice.
As the 2022 Beijing Olympics officially kicked things off with the Feb. 4 Opening Ceremony, viewers at home were left rejoicing at the arrival of Jamaica's four-man bobsled team who will compete in this year's games for the first time since 1998. So by rule, it's time for us all to watch Cool Runnings again—Jamaica's four-man team debut at the 1988 Winter Olympics inspiring the heartwarming 1993 Disney flick.
Since then, at least two representatives from the Caribbean country have returned to the games in 2002, 2014 and in 2018, when their two-woman team made their debut. And after missing out on qualifying for the four-man bobsleigh in 2018 by just one place, the country is officially back and ready to set the ice ablaze. This year will also be the first time Jamaica has qualified in three Olympic bobsled events including the four-man, two-man and women's monobob events.
"We've put in a lot of hard work the last four years to achieve what we've achieved," Shanwayne Stephens, pilot of both the four-man and two-man teams, told Today in January. "Over the lockdown, we've come up with a way to get our own training done, we didn't want to leave any stone unturned when it came to qualifying for the games, so we can now look back and say, ‘We did everything we could've done to achieve our goal.'"
However, as much as art has quite literally imitated real life, the team wants everyone to know that their legacy extends far beyond the big screen.
"We're more than just a movie," Shanwayne said, per the Olympics' official website. "We want to show we're actually fierce competitors and we're out there to put on a really good performance at the Games."
So time to feel the rhythm! Feel the rhyme! Get on up, it's bobsled time!
But before the games officially begin, check out even more movies and TV shows that will get you in the spirit in no time: