Most elite athletes are defined by a single surface the grass of a pitch, the synthetic rubber of a track, or the cold bite of ice. Tyquendo Tracey is the anomaly who has mastered all three by treating his career not as a series of games, but rather as a high-stakes construction project.
As the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics approach, the 2018 Jamaican 100m National Champion is preparing to lead the Jamaican four-man bobsleigh team into a new era. Yet, to understand his future on the ice, one must look at the blueprint he developed for his career.
Tracey’s transition from a sub-10-second sprinter to an elite bobsleigh brakeman was fueled by more than raw power; it was a result of his Construction Management degree from UTECH. While other athletes rely purely on instinct, Tracey applies structural logic to his performance.
To Tracey, an athletic season is less a series of races and more a complex construction site where he serves as the lead architect. He applies the structural logic of his degree to every sprint and slide, viewing track preparation through the literal lens of prepping land. In his world, if the initial phase of acquiring and clearing the ground is flawed, no amount of raw speed can rescue the integrity of the final structure. This rigorous academic training acts as a psychological anchor when he is hurtling down an icy pipe at 150 km/h. While the chaos of the G-forces would cause others to falter, Tracey relies on a project manager’s composure to navigate the violence of the curves. "I’ve learned to manage that part of me well," he explains, noting that his studies taught him to abandon panic in favor of a rapid-fire assessment: identifying if a problem is fixable and executing a solution in real-time. By treating his own physical capabilities as finite resources to be timed and managed for maximum efficiency, he has transformed himself from a traditional sprinter into one of the most calculated and consistent performers in Jamaican sports.
Tracey’s journey is deeply rooted in the soils of Trelawny and Clarendon–family means a lot to him, and he has kept them close along his journey. This sense of community remains central to his identity. As Lifespan Spring Water’s first athlete ambassador, his role extends beyond marketing. The Lifespan family has equipped him with the resources to make worthwhile change. Following the devastation of Hurricane Melissa, Tracey leveraged his partnership to ensure water distribution reached hard-hit communities across the island. Tracey’s partnership with Lifespan, which began in September 2021, is described by both sides as more than a sponsorship. "A top athlete with the top spring water product in Jamaica is certainly a match made in heaven," says Nayana Williams, CEO of Lifespan. "But more than the commercial purposes, we like to see this young man do as best as he can do". Tracey echoes this sentiment, "I joined a family, I more than just joined... a sponsor"
Looking ahead to the remainder of 2026, the Winter Olympics is Tyquendo’s immediate priority, as he has already mapped out the Athletic Redevelopment phase of his 2026 project.
Immediately following the games, he plans to return to his track roots with a new team: Michael Frater’s Dynamic Athletics Club. His goal is to maintain his elite bobsleigh performance while reclaiming his dominance in the 100m and 200m.
In the consideration of his multifacetedness, Tyquendo Tracey is no longer just a sprinter or a bobsledder; he is the architect of a new Jamaican sporting legacy—one built on speed, strategy, and a refusal to be limited by a single track.
