When Jasmine Jones’ face and name appeared on the big screen Friday afternoon, her supporters went wild.

Their cheers continued, growing louder and louder, as the Westmoreland County native raced down the bobsled track in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, at the Winter Olympics

“Go Jasmine, run your race,” someone yelled, waving an American flag during a watch party at Morelands at Waterworks in South Greensburg.

Their screams grew louder the faster Jones went — 35 mph to 81.19 mph — in the first heat. The sprinter-turned-bobsled brakeman, and pilot Kaillie Armbruster Humphries, finished in 56.92 seconds, a track record, for the first heat and 57.24 for the second heat.

The combined time for the first day of competition left the pair ranked third among 25 two-women teams.

Her supporters brought their red, white and blue attire and loud voices to Morelands to support Jones, 29, a Jeannette native and 2014 Hempfield Area graduate, from thousands of miles away from the Milan Cortina Olympics sites.

Christine Harman of Greensburg was still pumped up after the first heat was finished.

“Words can’t describe what I feel right now,” Harman said. “She has worked so hard to achieve this goal.”

Yvonne Gantt of Jeannette has been following Jones’ preparation, and the excitement leading up to Friday’s races, through social media and messages from Jones’ mother. Gantt and Harman described themselves as “adopted aunts” of Jones.

“It was hard to believe she was actually there on TV,” Gantt said.

Jones’ Olympic dreams came true Friday after years of training and nearly giving up the sport. Her sprinting experience translates into helping the bobsled gain speed before the downhill acceleration on the icy track.

Two more heats remain Saturday. Each team’s times across the four heats will be added up — the fastest wins gold.

Morelands is planning another watch party Saturday.

Owner Gwen Moreland said Jones worked as hostess and later waitress for about a year and a half in the early 2020s. She invited members of their church — Greater Parkview Church in Greensburg — and other supporters to watch the event.

“I’m so excited,” Moreland said after the first heat. “That’s God moving.”

Mark Adams, minister of music at Greater Parkview Church, said he’s watched Jones grow up and fulfill her dreams.

“This, for me, is very special,” he said.

Jones failed to make the 2022 Winter Olympics team in the months after the 2021 birth of her daughter, prompting her to second-guess her ability to compete at the Olympics.

The 2023 death of her grandfather further shook her focus, but Jones later joined the Air Force World Class Athlete Program, which helped advance her goal of having a career in the military.

Jones went to Jeannette through fourth grade before a family move to Hempfield where she hit the high school track.

At Hempfield Area, she won WPIAL Class 3A titles in the 200 and 400. The winning continued at Eastern Michigan University — Jones ran a leg of the Mid-American Conference champion 400-meter relay and won individual indoor titles in the 200- and 400-meter dashes, earning most valuable performer honors.

Jones had her name submitted to a talent identification competition for bobsled during college.

Her road to Italy on Team USA came with key wins at events in Altenberg, Germany, and St. Moritz, Switzerland, with Armbruster Humphries, who became a U.S. citizen in 2022.

Armbruster Humphries won three Olympic gold medals competing with her native Canada.

Now, their sights are set on the medal podium Saturday.

The final two heats will be at 1 p.m. and 3:05 p.m., local time.

Morelands head chef Jared Thompson of Hempfield said Jones is an asset to Team USA. He’s known her for more than two decades, and Jones recently was a bridesmaid in Thompson’s wedding.

Thompson said he will be working during the final two heats, but hopes to peek his head out of the kitchen to see how his longtime friend does. He was able to do that during Friday’s first heat.

“It’s cool to watch someone else fulfill their dreams,” he said.

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