This blog post explores how 「Cool Runnings」 transcended victory to become a memorable sports film through the themes of finishing the race and teamwork.
Infinite Challenge Meets Sports
One day, Korean broadcaster Noh Hong-chul made a meaningful proposal to the Infinite Challenge members. He said there were people who looked just like them and wanted to show them a strange film. That film was ‘Cool Runnings’, a story about men who were far from ice taking on the challenge of bobsledding. Released in 1993, this sports comedy-drama, based on the true story of the Jamaican bobsled team competing in the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics, is still hailed as a classic sports film. After showing the film, Noh Hong-chul suddenly proposed, “Let’s try bobsledding too.” Thus, the members of the famous Korean variety show ‘Infinite Challenge’ found themselves preparing for bobsledding, somewhat against their will.
What would happen if sports were brought into variety entertainment? At the time, incorporating a sport that variety shows hadn’t seriously attempted before seemed like an unfamiliar and bizarre challenge. However, PD Kim Tae-ho, who directed the famous Korean variety show Infinite Challenge, was confident based on the success he had previously achieved by incorporating sports dance into entertainment. Indeed, Infinite Challenge had combined entertainment with challenge narratives through various projects, accumulating experience in eliciting both laughter and emotion in the process. Therefore, judging that another sports challenge would yield more gains than losses, he accepted Noh Hong-chul’s proposal. Thus, without fully realizing it, they found themselves standing at the starting line toward becoming national representatives. What conclusion did Korea’s famous variety show, Infinite Challenge, ultimately aim to present through this three-part project?
The Effect of Character Image
Infinite Challenge, a famous Korean variety show, features a team of six members. While each member might seem lacking or incomplete individually, the image that first comes to mind is that of mischievous troublemakers who only unleash powerful synergy when together. For such a group, sports—especially the winter sport of bobsleigh—seemed an ill-fitting choice. Their pure innocence, as if spellbound, where no one strongly objects but simply follows along for fun and emotion after watching a movie, is also a unique charm of the famous Korean variety show Infinite Challenge.
The bobsleigh episode of the famous Korean variety show Infinite Challenge unintentionally shares a similar structure to ‘Cool Runnings’. The repeated hardships and adversities, conflicts and quarrels among the characters, the initial resistance to the unfamiliar, and the process of overcoming these challenges connect the two works through a shared emotional thread. Just as four Jamaican athletes, far removed from ice, embark on the unfamiliar sport of bobsleigh to challenge the global stage of the Olympics, the six men from the famous Korean variety show Infinite Challenge, who were also distant from athletics, dive into bobsleigh for the sake of the program.
Their journey resembles less a scripted performance and more a process of learning through physical experience as they tackle each assigned challenge. This mirrors the narrative of training and growth depicted in ‘Cool Runnings’. Scenes where teammates encourage and hold back a member overcome by fear symbolize strong teamwork in both the film and the variety show. While resembling the film’s format, the addition of the variety show’s unique humor codes creates a distinct texture.
The word ‘rejection’ plays a significant role in both the film and the variety show. The challenge of a different race, the sports challenge of entertainers we’ve never seen before, feels unfamiliar and suspicious at first. Who would have placed expectations on them, or anticipated good results? Yet the essence of sports films lies in the spirit of perseverance through grueling training and rejection. Ultimately, they didn’t stop. Even if they didn’t win, they demonstrated the spirit of sports by honoring the game and completing the race to the end.
Evolving Young Men and Growing Middle-Aged Men
The protagonists of ‘Cool Runnings’ start as sprinters and grow into bobsled drivers. Junior Bevil is denied an Olympic berth, but that setback becomes the catalyst for his renewed challenge. Yul Brenner, harboring resentment toward Jamaica, joins the team with his grievances. Along with Derris Bannock’s friend and unpowered sled champion Sanky, the four-man team is complete. They learn bobsledding step by step and grow together.
The film’s flow is relatively conventional. Though based on a true story, the training process and conflict structure follow the grammar of traditional sports films. Regardless of the sport, the progression in sports films is largely similar. However, the difference between Korea’s famous variety show ‘Infinite Challenge’ and ‘Cool Runnings’ lies in the contrast between a ‘predefined world’ and the ‘world of reality’. While a film places characters within the director’s worldview, intent, and subjective gaze, variety shows are closer to the process of real people creating their own paths through their own will.
Even the athletes coaching the members of Korea’s famous variety show ‘Infinite Challenge’ are real people with their own lives. They aren’t predetermined characters but actual individuals who cautiously stepped into the medium of variety entertainment. Unlike film, weather, environment, unexpected variables, and unpredictable situations are not controlled. The very essence and tension of variety lie in the fact that, amidst all these circumstances, they must create outcomes solely through their own will. When viewed distinctly, the appeal of each medium becomes even more vivid.
For the Final Minute
Whether in film or variety, the most crucial moment in sports content is the final minute. The entire narrative builds toward that climactic minute. After enduring countless dangers and hardships, the scene of running without losing focus until the very last moment leaves a profound message with viewers and audiences.
The climax of a sports film isn’t simply about winning or losing. Rather, it’s about the attitude of finishing the race, the stance of never giving up, and the moment that embodies respect for the audience. Korea’s famous variety show, Infinite Challenge, was no different. The emotion doesn’t come solely from victory; it stems from the attitude maintained throughout the process. Whether it’s a true story is secondary. What matters is the authenticity inherent in that journey. Humans share fundamental emotions regardless of era or environment. That’s why so many people resonate with this narrative.
My personal thoughts
I remember first seeing this film during high school. Though I wasn’t deeply interested in movies back then, ‘Cool Runnings’ left an unusually strong impression. I didn’t fully grasp what the film was trying to say, but simply watching it moved me. It was a time when I absorbed the emotions by following the flow of events rather than analyzing the film’s message.
My younger self was like a blank slate. In that pure state, this film made me shed genuine tears. Years later, when I reflected on what films I truly loved, this one came to mind again. While I enjoy most genres except horror, and have recently found myself drawn more to fantasy films, the genre that ultimately moved me the deepest was the sports film.
That’s why I wanted to talk about sports films. I believe the essential emotion they convey lies in the human will that transcends victory or defeat, the attitude of never giving up even in the face of unfamiliar challenges, and the dignity maintained until the very last moment. Korea’s famous variety show ‘Infinite Challenge’ and ‘Cool Runnings’ may differ in format, but they ultimately head toward the same point. Through laughter and tears, challenge and perseverance, and by revealing the shared essence of human emotion, both works retain enduring significance even now, long after their release.
