Trinidad and Tobago’s bobsleigh team said it is “mission accomplished” in their ‘operation don’t come last’ as they finished 25th out of 26 in the Olympic two-man event in Cortina.
Harrogate-born Axel Brown said in January that the goal was to not finish bottom of the standings at the Games and they were second-from-bottom, ahead of Israel, with an overall time of 2:51:05.
The 33-year-old, who raced for Team GB for seven years before switching to compete for his mother’s home nation, pilots the sled with brakeman De Aundre John.
“It’s absolutely mission accomplished. Me and Dre [John] have been able to do something special together,” he told BBC Sport.
“For little Trinidad and Tobago to do that with no state funding is huge. To beat another nation at the top of their game as well that feels like a win – it is a win.”
Finishing outside the top 20, despite producing their quickest run in heat three, means they did not progress to the final heat but Brown and John will also compete in the four-man event later this week.
It was a German clean sweep on the two-man podium as Johannes Lochner and Georg Fleischhauer won gold while legendary pilot Francesco Friedrich and Alexander Schuller took silver with Adam Ammour and Alexander Schaller claiming bronze.
Brown said the team “won the gold medal” when they qualified for the Games and he is representing Trinidad and Tobago at his second Olympics having also competed at Beijing 2022.
Brown, a former American Football player and taekwondo medallist at national level, took up bobsleigh aged 21 and changed allegiance from GB with the aim of reviving the bobsleigh programme in Trinidad and Tobago.
The Caribbean nation had qualified for three consecutive Winter Games from 1994 to 2002 but Brown guiding them to the Games in China four years ago was their first appearance in 20 years.
They ultimately finished 28th out of 30 in the two-man event, above Jamaica and Brazil.
Qualification for the Games in Italy was even more demanding as they had to qualify for both the two and four-man events, which they managed for the first time.
“It was very special to stand at the top of the track with Dre,” said Brown.
“I had my dad on the start line with me and my coach Lee Johnston, who has been the cornerstone of this team and helped us make a team out of a bunch of misfits.”