Bobsledder Mica Moore needs funds for equipment

LONDON:

Mica Moore, a member of the Jamaica female bobsleigh team, has set her mind on competing in the 2026 Winter Olympics, but she is reaching out to generous donors and potential sponsors to help with her dream.

The self-funded bobsleigh pilot, while scoring big honours for Jamaica recently by finishing sixth in a monobob event at the Sigulda bobsleigh and skeleton track in Latvia, is finding the challenges of getting to the Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy in February 2026 ever increasing if she doesn’t have the proper equipment in the two-man event.

Moore, a former British Olympian who only changed allegiance to Jamaica late last year, said the current bobsled she and her teammate share is simply not up to the standards required for top-tier competition.

She said, “To give a little insight, I had to duct tape the nose cone on the sled, and check every bolt between runs to ensure the sled remained intact. To continue pushing for Olympic qualification, I need a new two-man bobsled that is both faster and more reliable.

“With better kit and equipment, I know I can push myself and my team to achieve even better results, giving Jamaica the representation it deserves on the world stage. A new sled means better performance, faster times, and a real shot at the Olympics.”

The Cardiff-based bobsledder highlighted that the sport is often regarded as the ‘Formula One on ice’ because of the cost involved with the equipment needed and the expense to travel around competing in events.

She explained, “To go away for a bobsleigh season will cost around £50,000 to cover the two-man team at about £30,000 and the monobob at about £20,000. This will entail moving the equipment from race to race, whether by road or air, accommodation and meals to fuel the team.

“It’s a sport that does require a lot of money and this is racked up very quickly as one run down the bobsleigh track is costly and we usually try and do four runs a day on a training day. I work as much as I can outside of bobsleigh to create a pot for going away to the events, but it is challenging to compete with below par equipment.”

To get to the Winter Olympics Moore has to compete in eight races this winter to get as many points as she can as qualifying is only possible through a quota or points system. The larger winter countries usually get more quota spots while non-winter countries get fewer quotas and others, like Jamaica, have to accumulate points in order to qualify.

GOFUNDME LAUNCHED

Moore has started her own fund-raiser to purchase a new two-man sled by launching an online Go Fund Me page with the aim to raise about £15,000 towards the cost. On the page she describes the request for assistance as: “ Your support will directly impact our chances of qualifying and competing at the highest level. Every donation, no matter how small, will bring us one step closer to achieving this dream.”

She also states that it’s not just about the sled, “it’s about representing Jamaica and showing that anything is possible with the right resources and determination. My dream is one day to set up a foundation to allow a grassroots development into sports like bobsleigh. By owning my equipment I can build a foundation to make this possible.”

Moore is also open to sponsors who would like to invest in her journey. She said, “I have got belief in myself, but to have someone else that can believe in that journey with me, as well and want to invest in it, is massive for me.”

Moore previously represented Great Britain at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and along with Mica McNeill made history for Team GB by achieving the nation’s best-ever finish in women’s bobsleigh with an eight-place result. She, however, parted ways with the British programme in 2022.

She later applied for Jamaican citizenship due to her grandfather being Jamaican and got this confirmed in December 2024. She quickly returned to competitive bobsleigh at the Europe Cup monobob event in Lillehammer, Norway sporting the green, black and gold colours of Jamaica.

Moore has expressed deep pride in embracing her Jamaican heritage. Her grandfather Venson Byfield came to the UK in the Windrush generation and the family settled just outside of Newport in south Wales.

She said,“I grew up in a small village in south Wales and my mother taught me about Jamaican culture, and it was never far from our hearts. At Christmas time we would have lots of Jamaican food prepared and my parents even installed a Jamaica-theme bar in the garden.”

Moore started out in athletics and represented Wales at the 2014 Commonwealth Games as part of the 4x100 relay team, but when she switched to bobsleigh references were quickly made of her and the 1993 comedy film Cool Runnings.

Now that she is wearing the Jamaican colours, those references are now ramping up again for Moore who said she is happy to hear them as they only highlight the history of Jamaica in the sport.

Mica Moore’s Go Fund Me page may be found at: https://gofund.me/a7dd4f00.