After narrowly missing the Paris 2024 Olympics, the Yohan Eskrick-Parkinson took the bold leap from the diving pool to the icy embrace of the bobsleigh track. Now, in a stirring twist of fate with the Milano-Cortina 2026 Games just days away, the Jamaican-turned-Canadian has realised his Olympic dream by being named to the Maple Leafs’ Olympic team roster.
Bobsleigh is known for supplementing its ranks with athletes from diverse backgrounds. Often, these athletes come from sports like rugby, football, or athletics, which have a clear line to the pushing and sprinting skills required to generate sliding speed.
We last saw Eskrick-Parkinson compete at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, and the 2024 World Aquatics Diving World Cup—all key qualifiers for the Paris 2024 Olympics. However, after missing out on Paris, the Calgary-born diver with dual Canadian and Jamaican citizenship began to wonder what might come next.
Having studied neuroscience as a student-athlete at Northwestern University in Illinois, USA, while competing on the NCAA collegiate diving circuit, the 25-year-old thought it might be time to either start working or hit the books again for medical school. "After diving, I thought, 'Alright, I'm ready to work, ready to move on to something else."
What Eskrick-Parkinson took in the end was a route less travelled, following a quick conversation with his weights coach, Lascelles Brown, a two-time Canadian Olympic bobsleigh medallist. “I was training with him one day, and I remember I was on the stairs and I was practising some jumps. I jumped like eight steps from standing, and Lascelles looked at me and was like, ‘You know, maybe you should try bobsleigh,’” Eskrick-Parkinson recalled to Team Canada.
Coming from competing in synchronised diving, the team sport dynamic isn’t new to Eskrick-Parkinson. “I think it’s the nature of the sport, but [bobsleigh] is a lot higher energy,” he commented. “We’re hyping each other up, and it’s very intense while getting ready to go. In diving, you want to keep things a little bit more calm and controlled, but strong.”
In late January, the Canadian Olympic Committee nominated the roster that is set to compete at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games. Eskrick-Parkinson joins five other brakemen to power the Canadian men’s sleds, along with one alternate member. Between the men’s and women’s teams, Canada will bring 17 bobsleigh athletes to Milano Cortina.