JOEL FEARON will carry the name of his murdered sister when he stars in the latest incarnation of Cool Runnings.
The Coventry-born bobsleigher was in Team GB’s quartet that finished fifth at Sochi 2014 — but got bronze medals FIVE YEARS later when two Russian crews were kicked out for doping.
Since then, Fearon has changed allegiances to Jamaica and will wear the famous green, gold and black colours at the Milan-Cortina Games, which open on Friday.
His switch followed the tragic death of sister Natasha Morais, who was tortured and then murdered in her Leicestershire flat in June 2023.
The 40-year-old was killed by a man who built a friendship after finding out she had received inheritance money from her grandmother.
Her murderer was jailed for a minimum of 34 years.
Ex-sprinter Fearon, 37, retired from bobsleigh and became a “broken” man “filled with anxiety and fear”.
Yet the chance to compete at a third Olympics is fuelled by Natasha’s memory. Fearon said: “My sister loved Jamaica. She loved the culture.
“That’s what she’ll have been most excited about. She was always so proud of me, one of my biggest cheerleaders anyway but this was just something else, so I’ll write her name on my spikes.
“When she passed away, I was struggling at that point with anxiety and all different things.
“I didn’t think I was ever going to be the same again.
“It’s the way my sister died. It was all really dramatic. She was killed. I was very close to her.
“Me and my mum found her. It was really, really tough for me, especially being a family orientated person. That really did hit me hard.
“I felt I let her down. I felt I let down my family.
“It took a while for me to even feel like myself again.
“It’s still a work in progress but I definitely came back on my feet.
“We had to go through the court case, which took over a year as well. Lots of things delayed my healing but now I’m feeling strong again.”
Fearon represented GB twice but there was no space for him this time.
But he has links to Jamaica — one of his grandfathers was part of the Windrush Generation — and when they called about an exciting “project”, he completed the necessary paperwork.
Fearon, who once ran 9.96sec as a sprinter, flew to Italy yesterday with the Jamaica team, which carry a legacy from the 1988 Games.
Dudley Stokes, Devon Harris, Michael White and Chris Stokes — now the 2026 team’s director — did not even finish their run.
But their involvement at Calgary, sliding on ice despite coming from the Caribbean’s sandy beaches, caught Hollywood’s interest and led to the 1993 Cool Runnings film being made.
Fearon, a father of four, added: “I’ve gone from being an Olympic medalist to a Disney movie character. I’d say that’s an upgrade.
“I watched that movie when I was about ten. It was such a big part of me then because it was part of my culture. Now I’m part of the team, which is absolutely amazing.
“I’m excited to show the world what we’ve been working on.
“We haven’t gone head-to-head with the big teams yet. We’ve only been on a North American Cup circuit.
“But results-wise, we stack up as big competition to them all.
“I only go places looking to win anyway. I’m very, very competitive. We’ll be excited.”
