Triplets look to ‘Dream together’ and qualify for 2026 Winter Games

KINGSTON:

Jamaica faces the novel prospect of having triplets representing the country 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 multisport event, also known as Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, will be held in three regions from Friday, February 6, to Sunday, February 22.

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 January2024. The theme for the Italian Games is ‘Sognando insieme’, which translates to ‘Dreaming together’, a motto the JSF shares with its athletes.

“The JSF 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.”

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 now the teen 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 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 look forward to outmanoeuvring.

“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 said while he, his siblings and his parents were in Jamaica last year training in the gym and on the beach.

“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 said.

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. You know the story about the bobsled team when a Jamaica team first qualified for the Winter Olympics, in 1988,” she said.

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 are 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 can be overwhelming, and 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.

For the Youth Olympics, the JSF provided solid backing and has 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 JSF 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 has seen them receive much-needed funding so far for 2025,” the JSF secretary general said..