Team is determined to get the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing

Jamaica’s bobsled team has outlined a plan to sell non-fungible tokens (NFT) to finance their Olympic campaign.

The Jamaican team is determined to get the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and have come up with this innovative way to raise the money to do it.

In a press release, the Jamaican bobsled team explained that, “the NFT Drop initiative is the first of its kind, mixing in a range of authentic Jamaican digital and physical experiences from musicians, music, and art lovers along with a purpose-driven mission of securing the celebrated team a spot in the 2022 Olympics utilising unique digital assets”.

NFTs can be described as any digital artwork (music, movies, gifs, etc.) that a person can purchase and have ownership. This protects buyers or artists from their artwork being duplicated for free.

The Guardian newspaper has described NFTs as “bitcoin for art” that “allow for pictures, videos, music, or anything else that can be digitally represented, to be wrapped up in a format that can be traded, stored or authenticated without needing to turn to a gatekeeper”.

Digital artwork highlighting the best of the Jamaican Bobsled Team on offer

What buyers of the Jamaican bobsled team’s NFT drop can expect is “limited edition digital artwork, which highlights the best of the Jamaican Bobsled Team brand: daring, courageousness, persistence, and claiming your place on Earth regardless of where you are”.

Chis Stokes, CEO of the Jamaica Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, noted that “currently, the single greatest challenge is to acquire elite quality racing sleds and runners. It does not matter how talented you are or how hard you work; without competitive equipment you can’t reach your potential”.

He added that whatever revenue the team makes from the NFT Drop will help fund their equipment, Olympic training, housing, and more. Stokes said the NFT drop money will be used to help “implement predictable and stable athletic development programmes”.

It hasn’t been revealed when the NFT drop will be released, but the Jamaican Bobsled Team has until January 16, 2022, to qualify for the Beijing Winter Olympics.