Peterborough's Jamaican Olympic bobsleigh skipper Shanwayne Stephens hopes to inspire others

A British soldier who skippered the 2022 Jamaican Olympic bobsleigh team following an unorthodox training regime said he wants his experience of overcoming adversity to inspire others.

Lance Corporal Shanwayne Stephens, who is from Peterborough, said his teammates were proud their underdog story - which has been compared with the film Cool Runnings, inspired by the 1988 Jamaican bobsleigh team.

Although the 2022 squad finished bottom in both the two and four-man events, their exploits won them a legion of fans, including Hollywood actor Kevin Hart and television presenter Alison Hammond.

And the 31-year-old soldier even made the Queen laugh in lockdown by telling her he pushed a car up and down streets in training for the games.

On his return to the UK, the gunner said: “The whole journey for us hasn’t been about bobsleigh, it’s about inspiring people.

“The world has been turned upside down in the last two years, kids have been stuck inside, and we just wanted to say to them that they should dream big.

“That’s what we did, we were always massive underdogs and we are proud of what we achieved.”

The novice squad also including Rolando Reid and Nimroy Turgott, both 29, Ashley Watson, 28 and Matthew Wekpe, 32.

They only began training together in September 2021, just weeks before the qualifying heats for Beijing, and with equipment that was almost as old as their youngest team member.

They said funding was so short that they were only able to make it to Beijing after a holiday firm offered to sponsor their travel costs.

• ITV News Anglia's Sarah Cooper met Shanwayne Stephens just before he went to Beijing

Mr Watson, a physical therapist from Peterborough, said the bobsleigh community had made them feel particularly welcome in Beijing.

He said: “People were talking to us, especially the other teams.

“Everyone was stoked to see us out there because we just brought the Jamaican vibes and kept smiling.”

Mr Stephens spoke to the Queen during a video call in 2020, and explained how he had used his fiancee’s car as a makeshift bobsleigh.

He said he felt the same pressure on the bobsleigh track as he did in his day job.

“In the military, you have the responsibility to bring your troops home again, alive," he said.

“It’s the same with bobsleigh – I have to get them down the hill and bring them home again in one piece.

“We did it, and we’re proud.