Most ideas never get out of the blocks, says Nelson Christian Stokes, a four-time Winter Olympian on the Jamaica Bobsleigh Team.

But you must start in order to chase down your dreams, says Stokes, using his background as a track runner to deliver a metaphor.

“You have something only you can give to the universe, to give to the world. If you don’t do it, it won’t happen,” he tells attendees of the 2017 CSCU Solutions Conference in Orlando.

Stokes shepherded the fledgling Jamaica Bobsleigh Team from their humorous debut in 1988 to being ranked 8th in the world at the 1994 Olympic Winter Games. In 2002, the team set track start records.

He authored the book “Cool Runnings and Beyond: The Story of the Jamaica Bobsleigh Team,” which inspired the Walt Disney film “Cool Runnings.” Stokes played clips from the movie to illustrate some of his main points during his speech.

 

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