On Wednesday, the Jamaican women’s bobsled team found themselves in a sort of live-action Cool Runnings when their coach — a German who won silver four Olympics ago — dramatically quit and threatened to take the sled with her just days before the athletes were set to compete. They’re Jamaica’s first-ever female squad to qualify, but winter-sports programs aren’t exactly flush in cash on the Caribbean island, and then-coach Sandra Kiriasis reminded the Jamaican Bobsleigh Federation that her name was on the paperwork for the German sled that she’d rented the team for Pyeongchang.
Here’s the surprising, but very cool, part: After seeing the news, executives at Red Stripe, Jamaica’s best-known legal export, were like, We’ve got this. How much can a bobsled even be?
The team jumped at the offer, tweeting their phone number right there in the replies after (unsuccessfully) trying to DM the beer-maker:
Media have since asked if Red Stripe was in fact making “a literal offer.” Its head of marketing answered that it was, since the Olympic Games “are an honor to compete in, and as the No. 1 beer in Jamaica, we want to help those athletes realize their dreams.” Asked if they’d looked at the sticker price on bobsleds yet, he added, “While we’re experts in beer, we won’t know the cost of a new bobsled until we’re able to speak with representatives from the team.”
Apparently, it’s as much as $50,000. The team confirmed to USA Today this morning that they indeed “are in possession of the sled, which was a gift from Red Stripe.”