Italy bound

Years ago, the movie Cool Runnings followed the first Jamaican bobsled team to the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics, famously prompting the line, “Jamaica has a bobsled team?!?”

 

Seminole High School now has its own version of that unlikely journey.

John Williamson, a former Seminole High lacrosse player and the son of Operation Graduation counselor Kay Williamson, is a member of the U.S. men’s bobsled team competing in the Milan Cortina Olympic Winter Games, which begin this weekend.

 

Williamson grew up in Florida and never competed in an ice sport during his youth or high school years. Admitting he still has never ice-skated.

“I grew up playing lacrosse, and I am a proud Seminole High alum,” Williamson told FOX 35 recently. “It was my goal in high school to play Division I lacrosse at a time when lacrosse wasn’t really popular in Florida.”

Injuries derailed his lacrosse career, leading Williamson to transfer to Florida State where he earned a degree in Marketing. Within a year, though he had found a new path in bobsledding.

 

Williamson made his IBSF World Cup debut for the United States later that year and quickly excelled as a push athlete. He earned multiple World Cup podium finishes in four-man bobsled and recorded a career-best fourth-place finish at the 2025 IBSF World Championships.

 

He has overcome significant injuries in recent seasons, including broken ribs and knee surgery, to earn a spot on his second U.S. Olympic team.

Williamson credited his parents for helping him reach this point in his career.

 

“To be honest, I am a collection of what they taught me,” Williamson told FOX 35. “A lot of this wouldn’t be possible without them. I have never not felt supported by them. There’s something special about that when someone believes in you.”