Bobsledder teaches kids about beating challenges in life

Adrienne Packer

Friday, May 8, 1998 | 9:10 a.m.

NORTH LAS VEGAS -- Devon Harris' life wasn't always as smooth as ice.

The Jamaican bobsledder dodged stray bullets that whizzed through his ghetto neighborhood to become a successful athlete. Now he hopes to convince others that they, too, can overcome similar challenges.

Harris, a member of the first Jamaican Olympic bobsledding team that was the inspiration for the movie "Cool Runnings" (as well as a famous beer commercial), spoke to elementary school students Thursday at North Las Vegas City Hall.

"I grew up in Olympic Gardens," the muscular Harris told the students. "And it wasn't named that because we grew Olympians. It was one the toughest ghettos in the world."

Harris said he was one of the few children who took school seriously and had a defined goal. Not only did Harris want to be in the military, he wanted to be an officer.

"Where I come from, that was not commonplace; it was a giant step," Harris told a group of fifth-graders.

"You need to know the sky is the limit. You have absolutely no choice about who your parents are, how much money you have or where you come from. But you do have a choice about where you want to go."

Harris graduated from the prestigious Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, England and became a captain in the Jamaican Defense Force.

But it was a spectacular crash in the 1988 Olympics, combined with the novelty of a warm-weather country fielding a bobsled team, that made him and the Jamaican quartet famous. The team has participated in every Winter Olympics since, including the Nagano Games earlier this year.

When Harris isn't training, he delivers motivational speeches to prisoners, hospital patients and children growing up in economically disadvantaged communities.

"I think it's important for athletes supposedly in the limelight to leave an important message for kids," the 33-year-old said.

It's a unique devotion in a country where many famous athletes spend the season serving suspensions for fighting and their off-season in legal trouble. Harris said while he's in the spotlight, he will try to have a positive impact on children.

"Children live what they learn," he said. "The ones who fight think it's OK, but it's not. There is no place for it, unless you're a boxer."

At the end of Harris' 40-minute speech, little hands popped up everywhere. Few, however, wanted to know more about the bobsledder's turbulent childhood.

Instead, they wanted to know how to drive a bobsled. Was he scared when his bobsled crashed at 75 mph? Where are his teammates? Where is his coach? How long will he be on the Olympic team?

Tom Williams Elementary School teacher Sheryl Roberts said Harris' visit was important to the students, even if their living conditions aren't as deplorable as his were.

"It gives them a role model and they learn what it takes to make it," Roberts said. "There is violence out there in the neighborhoods and they deal with peer pressure.

"There are some kids here who want to be soccer players. Even though it's not bobsledding, they know other people have done it, so they can do it, too."