Sprinter Warren Weir joins Jamaica rugby sevens squad and aims to make 2020 Olympic Games

Olympic medallist Warren Weir has won selection for the Jamaica rugby sevens squad and will make his debut at the upcoming Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Barranquilla, Colombia.

Weir, who took bronze in the 200m at London 2012 behind compatriots Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake, has set his sights on helping Jamaica to qualify for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and to reach the podium.

The 28 year-old sprinter took up rugby after picking up a hamstring injury at the Commonwealth Games in Australia this April. A grade two muscle tear ended his track season prematurely, but opened up a new opportunity. 

While stressing that this move did not signal an end to his athletics career just yet, Weir called rugby a "wonderful sport". 

"I am 28 now and you can see the youngsters running really fast," he told the Jamaica Gleaner. "I don't plan to be here all the days of my life trying to compete with these youngsters. 

"I have somewhat created a legacy and I don't intend to ruin that by keep getting beaten and losing. It's important to know when to move on and to help the youngsters to transition into a state where I was. It's not about quitting. It's about knowing when to move on."

Weir also won 200m silver medals at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow and the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. He was part of the 4 x 100m team that took gold in Moscow and collected another relay bronze on the Gold Coast earlier this year.

With a 100m personal best of 10.02s, Weir will bring electric speed to the sevens scene as USA stars Carlin Isles and Perry Baker have done before him. Unsurprisingly, Weir is to be used as a wing. 

He said that the CAC Games tournament, which will be held between August 1-2, would be a chance to "learn the sport some more". However, he did not rule out further involvement in the future.

"I joke around with my friends sometimes and say: 'After track and field I am going to live in Australia or South Africa or one of those countries with a professional league.' 

"We laugh about it every single day but I think more and more that it will be a reality because track and field won't last forever and there is a chance to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. 

"I would love to be a Jamaican that went to two Olympic Games for two different sports. That would be an amazing achievement for myself. If we got there and got onto the podium, that would be a wonderful story to tell."

Jamaica face France in the first round of the Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco on July 20.

Qualification for the rugby sevens tournament at the 2016 Olympic Games was determined first of all by the top four places on the 2014-15 World Series standings, then by regional qualifying tournaments and finally by a separate repechage competition to determine the final place.