JSF adds speed to Rivers triplet’s Winter Olympics quest

KINGSTON:

Jamaica face the novel prospect of having triplets representing at the Olympics; and the Jamaica Ski Federation (JSF) aims to provide full support for Henniyah, Henri IV and Helaina Rivers' quest to qualify for the 2026 Winter Games in Italy.

Officially the XXV Olympic Winter Games, the multi-sport event is also known as Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and will be held in three regions, with host cities being Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Verona from Friday, February 6 to Sunday, February 22. The closing ceremony takes place at the famous San Siro, home stadium to the city's big football teams AC Milan and Inter Milan.

Already, the siblings have shown themselves to be world class by achieving high standards, with two of them participating at the Winter Youth Olympics in South Korea at 'Gangwon 2024', in January 2024. The theme for the Italian Games is 'Sognando insieme', which translates to 'Dreaming together', a motto the Jamaica Ski Federation (JSF) shares with its athletes.

"The Jamaica Ski Federation is very optimistic about our athletes qualifying for the next Winter Games in 2026," said Ryan Foster, its secretary general. "The foundation that has been set at the Youth Olympics augurs well for the Rivers triplets to continue to make history in a now diverse Winter Olympics pool for Jamaica," Foster shared.

At the Youth Olympics, Henri IV and Henniyah graced competition in Alpine skiing and thus became Jamaica's first ever representatives in this discipline at the Winter Games.

Helaina, unfortunately, was unable to compete after being injured. The recovery has been speedy, and one of the teens is determined to win as part of the Rivers' historic Winter Olympics chase.

"I'm very nervous because I've had an injury so it's going to be hard competing at such a high level with such great athletes. But I'm very excited to be at that level. It's both nerves and excitement to be able to compete," she said. "It was hard at first, but it gets better along the way... and I've got back (recovery) a lot faster than we'd imagined."

Full recovery would certainly represent one big victory. Then there is the field containing the world's best to conquer on ice, which the siblings, full of enthusiasm, look forward to outmanoeuvre.

"It's a great honour and a great opportunity to compete for Jamaica. It's my mom's home country," Henri IV, the 16-year-old teen admitted while himself, siblings and parents were here in Jamaica last year training in the gym and on the beach; and doing their usual routine of visiting family.

"I want to compete and be able to represent this country. It's a crazy feeling, it just feels like I'm being a part of something great," he noted.

Heniyah uttered similar sentiments.

"I'm very excited to represent my mother's homeland. She was born in Jamaica so it's something very special for me and my siblings to ski for Jamaica," she said. "I'm so excited to compete.

"I also qualified for the Youth Olympic Games last winter and it was very competitive and intense," Henniyah related.

For Helaina, "It's an honour to represent Jamaica and to also create history because Jamaica is not known for skiing and we're like the pioneers ... and people are like 'wow'. You know the story about the bobsled team," she said, the historic occasion when a Jamaica team first qualified for the Winter Olympics in 1988

Continuing, she said: "It'll help younger kids understand that you can do what you put your mind to .... And even if you don't have the availability to ski but you still want to pursue a career in an event with snow then you can do it with the help you need, and the support."

Their quest, off ice, includes many challenges, such as finding the very ice on which to prepare. Costs associated with that venture range from travelling far and wide in the United States, and to other countries with places under snow such as Europe. And as they're triplets, every cost is tripled.

"To train and develop an elite athlete is well over US$100,000 per child ... It's a great undertaking, it's a lot of money," their father, Henri III stated. "The coaching fees, the training fees, the race camps, the race fees, lodging, airfare, equipment, it just adds up quickly."

The triplets were born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. They now live in Long Island, also New York; and are schooled in New Hampshire.

"The expense, it can be daunting, it can be overwhelming but we need a lot of support. We need Jamaica to get behind us to understand how much it costs to represent and build an elite athlete because you can have all the ability in the world, but if you can't get to the Games you'll never show," he added. "So we need all the support we can get."

For the Youth Olympics, the Jamaica Ski Federation provided solid backing and have also started their funding support to the triplets for the upcoming Winter Games in 2026, which Henri III acknowledges.

"We'd love to thank the Jamaica Ski Federation for supporting us, and the Jamaica Olympic Association," he said. "Without their funding and support we'd never make it to the Youth Olympics."

Foster says they are ready to provide that push to the 2026 Winter Olympics.

"We will continue to work with them in sending them to much needed competition, assistance with equipment, nutrition and, of course, the technical aspect through that of a coach. They have already benefited from a scholarship which have seen them receive much needed funding so far for 2025," the JSF Secretary General said.

"We are working very closely with the athletes and their coach to ensure that in 2026 Jamaica Ski will be on that plane again, similar to what happened in the last Winter Olympics in 2022. We are also looking to engage additional athletes to complement the triplets to ensure that we have a full house in 2026," added Foster.