2010 Wii Game Could Be the Perfect Way to Get Into the Winter Olympics 2026 Spirit

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Released in 2010, the Nintendo Wii game Sled Shred featuring the Jamaican Bobsled Team offers a fun take on one of the most unlikely and inspiring stories in Winter Olympics history. While the Wii might not be known for its sports games, Sled Shred could be a great way to build excitement for the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

The story of Jamaica’s bobsled team captured the world’s imagination. Making their first Olympic appearance at the 1988 Calgary Games, the four-man team – Dudley Stokes, Devon Harris, Michael White, and Nelson “Chris” Stokes – were instant underdogs. They had to train for a winter sport on a tropical island with consistently warm weather. Although they crashed during the third run of the four-man event and finished 30th out of 41 teams in the two-man competition, their inspiring journey became widely known thanks to the 1993 Disney film Cool Runnings. Jamaica has continued to send bobsled teams to the Olympics in 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2014, and 2022, including the debut of their first women’s team in 2018.

Old Jamaican Bobsled Team Game is a Great Way to Get Excited About the Winter Olympics

Jamaica is aiming for bobsled glory once again, sending teams to compete in two-man, four-man, and women’s monobob events at the games in Italy, which begin on February 6th and run through February 22nd. All of their teams have qualified! If you’re planning to cheer on Jamaica and happen to have an old Wii console, you can revisit the excitement with Sled Shred featuring the Jamaican Bobsled Team, a game originally released in 2010. While it’s not considered one of the top Nintendo sports titles, Sled Shred shares qualities with popular games like Mario Kart, offering a fun, party-style experience with fast-paced downhill action.

Image via SouthPeak Games

Don’t expect a realistic portrayal of the Jamaican bobsled team’s story in Sled Shred. Instead, this game is a lighthearted and fun party experience. Players race down icy hills on inflatable tubes and disc sleds, throwing snowballs and navigating through gates to gain speed as they compete to make the team. The game offers multiple paths and can be played with the Wii Fit balance board or a standard controller. While the tracks are covered in ice, the environments – like Calypso Canyon and Abominable Tropics – offer warmer, more tropical settings fitting for a Jamaican-themed game.

Image via nWay

If a party game inspired by the Jamaican bobsled team doesn’t interest you, there are plenty of other Olympic video games to enjoy while you wait for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Since 1983, around two dozen officially licensed Olympic games have been released by various companies, starting with Konami’s classic arcade game Track & Field and most recently with nWay’s Olympics Go! Paris 2024. While most official games have focused on the Summer Olympics, several titles like Sega’s Vancouver 2010 (for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360) and 49Games’ Torino 2006 (for PlayStation 2 and Xbox) offer realistic experiences of winter sports, including Alpine skiing, bobsled, luge, snowboarding, ski jumping, and speed skating.

Image via Sega

If you prefer a more updated style, the Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games series is worth checking out. While the games have a cartoonish look because of the characters, they still do a good job of recreating the feel of different Olympic sports. Like other series, there are more summer games than winter games, and the most recent winter entry is Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games from 2013. With fun details like the Jamaican bobsled team and the classic rivalry between Mario and Sonic, these games are a great way to get excited for the Olympics in Italy.

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2026-02-06 00:04