Just over two months after a scary accident that saw her receiving 15 stitches to close a wound on her right foot and a set back due to an infection, Carrie Russell will return to bobsleigh action tomorrow in Whistler, Canada, as she seeks to qualify for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

Russell and her teammates were participating at the national push championships at GC Foster Sports College, when she said “on the final run the axle of the sled ran over my foot and damage tendons and nerves” that took 15 stitches to close.

Her recovery was slowed as “the area got infected which led to an emergency surgery”.

This, Russell added, further delayed her return to the sport.

“This forced me to bed rest for six weeks and I could only do doctor visits to dress the wound and examine the wound,” she noted.

Russell is a big part of the plans for the Jamaica Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, which plans to send a large contingent to Beijing next February. Federation President Chris Stokes had told the Jamaica Observer earlier that the organisation was looking at potentially four teams.

“We plan on qualifying two MonoBob teams [a women’s event] and two two women’s teams with pilots Carrie Russell and Jazmine Fenlator. We also plan on qualifying a two-man and a four-man team with pilot Shanwayne Stephens,” Stokes said.

Meanwhile, Russell said, while she cannot “control time, one thing for sure is that I am praying and trying my best to push towards the qualifications. Even in pain and a broken toe”.

She has been practising, despite not being fully healed, and said she is also working on the mental side of the event.

“Yes, I do feel some discomfort now and trying to work with a physiotherapist that we have here. But it all comes down to my mental state,” Russell concluded.