__NOTOC__ Warren Weir (born October 1989) is a retired

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n sprinter, who specialized in the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

. He was the bronze medallist in the event at the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, helping Jamaica sweep the medals. In 2013 at the Moscow World Championships, Warren Weir won the silver medal equalling his personal best. He finished behind Usain Bolt who set a World Leading time. His personal best is 19.79 seconds set at the National Stadium in his home country Kingston, Jamaica. He has since equalled his personal best in Moscow, in the World Championship final. He trained with the Glen Mills-coached Racers Track Club, alongside

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt, , (; born 21 August 1986) is a retired Jamaican sprinter, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay. An eight-ti ...

and

Yohan Blake Yohan Blake (born 26 December 1989) is a Jamaican sprinter specialising in the 100-metre and 200-metre sprint races. He won gold at the 100 m at the 2011 World Athletics Championships as the youngest 100 m world champion ever, and a silver me ...

Career

At the start of his career, Weir competed in the short sprints and the

110 metres hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hu ...

. Born in

Trelawny Parish Trelawny (Jamaican Patois: ''Trilaani'' or ''Chrilaani'') is a parish in the county of Cornwall in northwest Jamaica. Its capital is Falmouth. It is bordered by the parishes of Saint Ann in the east, Saint James in the west, and Saint Elizab ...

, he ran the 100 m and 200 m for

Calabar High School Calabar High School is an All-boys school, all-male secondary school in Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica. It was established by the Jamaica Baptist Union in 1912 for the children of Baptist ministers. It was named after the Kalabari Kingdom ...

at the Jamaican High School Championships. At the 2007 Jamaican junior championships he set a hurdles best of 13.65 seconds for second place and set a 100 m dash best of 10.69 seconds. He was a hurdles finalist at the

2007 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships The 14th Pan American Junior Athletics Championships were held in São Paulo, Brazil at the Estádio Ícaro de Castro Melo on July 6 to July 8, 2007. A detailed report on the results was given. Participation (unofficial) Detailed result lis ...

and a silver medallist at the 2008 CARIFTA Games,Warren Weir
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2012-08-20. where he also shared in the 4×100 metres relay gold medal. In his first appearance on the global stage, Weir reached the semi-finals at the

2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics is the 2008 version of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held in Bydgoszcz in Poland at the Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium between 8 and 13 July 2008. Previously Bydgoszcz hosted ...

.Weir Warren
IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-08-20. He competed sparingly in his first years as a senior, although he did run personal bests in the 100 m (10.50) and the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once ...

(53.28) in 2009. Weir began to emerge as a 200 m specialist in 2011 after joining the Racers Track Club under coach Glen Mills. He and Mills noticed that the hurdles were leaving him with knee pain and both decided that Weir should focus on sprinting instead.Lowe, Andre (14 June 2012)
Warren wearing down the clock
''Jamaica Gleaner''. Retrieved on 2012-08-20. He dipped under 21 second for the first time and placed sixth at the Jamaican Championships. He was invited to European meetings for the first time and performed well at his first Diamond League meeting, taking second place to

Walter Dix Walter Dix (born January 31, 1986) is a retired American sprinter who specialized in the 100 meters and 200 meters. He is the sixth-fastest 200-meter runner ever with a best of 19.53 seconds, and has broken the 10-second barrier in the 10 ...

with a personal best of 20.43 seconds into a strong headwind. He began 2012 by bringing his 200 m best down to 20.21, then 20.13 seconds. A time of 20.08 seconds brought him third place at the Adidas Grand Prix in New York in June. At the Jamaican Olympic Trials in 2012, Weir broke twenty seconds with a personal best of 19.99 seconds in the 200 m semi final and a third-place finish in the final, behind

and

, earned him a spot on the Jamaican team for the 2012 Summer Olympics. In the Olympic 200 m final he was a surprise bronze medallist, securing a new personal best of 19.84 seconds in the process. His medal made it an all-Jamaican podium finish alongside fellow Racers Track Club athletes Bolt and Blake – the first time Jamaican men had achieved such a medal sweep at the Olympics. Weir started out his 2013 season with a victory of 20.11 seconds in the Adidas Grand Prix in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. In June, he registered a 10.02 100m run, a massive personal best from his previous record of 10.51 seconds in 2008. Later in the 2013 Jamaican National Championships, Weir cruised to the finish line in the 200m final in 19.79 seconds, tying Bolt's world leading mark at that point. Having won the first two of his diamond league 200m races (in the

Golden Grand Prix The Golden Grand Prix Kawasaki is a track and field competition at the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan as part of the World Athletics Continental Tour. It was first organized in 2011 at the Todoroki Athletics Stadium in Kawasaki and spons ...

and the Adidas Grand Prix), Weir finished second to Bolt at the

Meeting Areva Meeting de Paris (formerly known as the Meeting Areva and Meeting Gaz de France) is an annual track and field meeting at the Stade Sébastien Charléty in Paris, France. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamon ...

, where Bolt set a world lead and meeting record of 19.73. Despite the clear loss to Bolt in Paris, Weir looked to be the closest to a challenger for Bolt at the World Championships that year. At the London Anniversary Games Weir clocked an impressive 19.89 and followed this up with a meeting record in the relay, clocking 37.75. Come the

2013 World Championships in Athletics The 14th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (Moscow 2013) () was an international athletics competition held in Moscow, Russia, from 10–18 August 2013. Initially, Russia won the most gold medals to top the table for the first time since 200 ...

, Weir took the heats easily and made it to the final. In the final, Bolt won the race in a world leading time of 19.66 to become the first man to win the 200m at the world championships three times. Weir got clear silver at 19.79, equalling his best, and Curtis Mitchell the bronze in 20.04. Weir would later collect a gold in the 4 × 100 m, after running in the heats. Weir finished his season off by winning the 200m at the

Memorial Van Damme The Memorial Van Damme is an annual athletics event at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, that takes place in late August or early September. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now the final event of the Diamond Le ...

in Brussels and hence won the Diamond League. In 2014, Weir competed in the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

, running the 200m. After winning his heats, Weir won the silver medal in the final. He is known for saying "No English, straight Patois," sparking calls on social networks for T-shirts to be printed with the phrase. In August 2017 Weir announced his retirement from competition via his Instagram account, after not advancing from the heats in the 200m at the

2017 World Championships in Athletics Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. In a change of sport, Weir was a member of the Jamaica rugby sevens team that came third at the

2018 Central American and Caribbean Games The 23rd Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Barranquilla, Colombia. Asamblea ODECABE, Islas Caimán' (translation: "CASCO Assembly, Cayman Islands"). Published by CACSO on 2012-10-27; retrieved 2012-11-13. Bidding process Quet ...

Statistics

Personal bests

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

: 10.02 sec (2013) *

: 19.79 sec (2013) * 400 metres: 46.10 sec (2013) *

(junior): 13.65 sec (2007) *

: 53.28 sec (2009)

International competition record

References

* There are a variety of conflicting sources about his birthdate: the Jamaican Olympic Team profile lists 31 October,Warren Weir
Jamaica Olympics. Retrieved on 2012-08-26. the 2012 Olympics profile has 13 October, and the IAAF profile has 21 October.

External links

*
London 2012 Profile

Warren Weir at Racers Track Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weir, Warren 1989 births Living people Jamaican male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Jamaica Olympic bronze medalists for Jamaica People from Trelawny Parish Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Jamaica World Athletics Championships medalists Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Jamaica Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics World Athletics record holders (relay) Diamond League winners World Athletics Championships winners People educated at Calabar High School