Luke Samuels Looking to Make His Dream of Representing Jamaica in “Curling” at The Winter Olympics a Reality
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April 4, 2023
Luke Samuels, a 38-year-old father of three who hails from Edinburgh, United Kingdom has always dreamed of one day representing Jamaica as an athlete and is looking to do just that at the upcoming Italy 2026 Winter Olympics.
Despite only taking up curling a year ago, Luke Samuels reveals his dream of being selected to represent Jamaica at the 2026 Italy Winter Games in the sport he is passionate about in a recent interview.
As he proclaimed his patriotism for Jamaica through his late grandad Edwin Luther Samuels, Luke also expressed his strong connection to Jamaica. Jamaica is highly regarded for its dominance in track and field events but not for other disciplines, and Samuels is looking to change that.
As a child, Luke dreamed of representing Jamaica. He holds dual citizenship in the UK and Jamaica. In 1948, his grandad was one of the first immigrants to travel to the UK in the Windrush era.
“My grandfather Edwin came from Jamaica on the first Windrush boat on June 21 1948. He was one of many who were asked to come to build up the country after WW2 and he worked on the buses after arriving in Tilbury docks in Essex,” Samuels explained to reporters.
Having been impressed with his whirlwind start, Luke was invited to join the Jamaican team. Although he hasn’t met any of his teammates face-to-face, he has attended AGM meetings and hopes to meet up with everyone in Canada for some practice sessions and friendly matches ahead of the qualifiers for the winter games.
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For the team to make the cut for Italy, it must qualify, most of which are diaspora from North America and Jamaica. Luke says he was overjoyed that he is the first UK-Jamaican curler ever to represent the national team, and that this is a great honour for him.
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“I always wanted to represent Jamaican sport, but I knew I was never going to be the next Usain Bolt running the 100 metres. I started looking into curling and found they had a team,” Samuels disclosed.
