It has been over a quarter of a century since the Jamaican Bobsleigh team filled the hearts and imagination at the Olympic Games, but now spearheaded by NaTalie Stokes, “Cool Runnings 2” is on the way. Photo: Provided

NaTalia, 19, is a member of the recently formed Jamaica women's bobsleigh team. Photo: Provided

In 1988 NaTalia's father, Chris Stokes, was one of the original 'Cool Runnings' team members. Photo: Provided

Hurtling down a steep, icy hill in a small cart, not dissimilar to a spruced up bath tub, isn't everyone's idea of fun. Less so, an obvious career choice for most Jamaicans. However if you're the daughter of Nelson Christian 'Chris' Stokes and the niece of Dudley Stokes - two of the original members of the Jamaican bobsleigh team whose story was immortalised in the 1993 movie Cool Runnings - bobsleigh is in your blood.

NaTalia, 19, is a member of the recently formed Jamaica women's bobsleigh team. It was created in response to the swell of interest generated from the nation's male athletes competing in the sport at the2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Yet, despite being related to two of the most famous bobsledders of all time, it was not until she began studying at college in the United States that NaTalia finally had a go.

"During my sophomore year in college, I got so fat and thought I should probably get into a sport. I said, 'Dad, what about bobsleigh?' "He said, 'Are you sure? There are so many other things that you could do,' because he knows what it's all about; the crashes and having a really bad day at the track."

In 1988 NaTalia's father, Chris Stokes, was preparing to compete at the Summer Olympics in Seoul. He decided to take a short break to visit his brother at the Calgary Winter Olympics, where he was preparing to make history in the bobsleigh. A last-minute injury left the Jamaican team one man down and Chris was roped in. He competed in his first race less than a week after setting eyes on the sled for the first time. Jamaica managed to record one of the fastest starts of any team, but that year their Olympic dreams ended in a horrendous 85mph crash.

Chris went on to compete at four Winter Olympics and is now director of the Jamaica Bobsled Federation. Ultimately though, he is a father, and admits he felt conflicted by his daughter's choice of career."I have to walk a very thin line. I don't want to be the person who says it's not a sport for women, because it is. I don't want to be the father who says, 'Get a degree and get a job and start a family.'

The Jamaica women are coached by former Olympic bobsledder Todd Hays, who guided the US female bobsledders to two out of the three medals on offer at the Sochi Olympics. He believes the Caribbean island could be just as successful in the sport, thanks to its sprinting pedigree.

So could we see a day when Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce join NaTalia in the bobsleigh team? Chris Stokes believes so. "That day may be closer than you think. Our training camp is based out of the sports college where some of the nation's leading sprinters train. So we may have a couple of surprises after Rio in terms of elite athletes coming over into the sport of bobsleigh."

The Jamaican bobsleigh team won many hearts at the Calgary Olympics more than a quarter of a century ago. In four years' time in the South Korean city of Pyeongchang, they plan to win medals."We have some excellent athletes in the programme. I believe we have a chance to do something special in terms of Olympics performance, perhaps more so with the women's programme at the moment than with the men's," adds Chris.

NaTalia and her team mates are already writing the next chapter in the Cool Runnings story. Disney may have sprinkled a healthy dose of Tinseltown stardust to embellish the facts, but NaTalia believes they got one character just right. A character who continues to feature heavily in the real-life sequel. "The lady that plays the grandma reminds me so much of my grandma, because she's so strong and loves us so much and motivates us," she says. "I think they got that character spot on. She's just like, 'Oh Lord, why can't we have normal kids and grandchildren that just go to school and want to be lawyers or doctors? Why do we have people who want to go down a hill in a sled? Of all the things you could have chosen...”