Warren Weir defends athletes switching allegiance

Jamaican athletes who opt to compete for another country are no different from people who switch jobs for better pay or those who choose to migrate, Olympic bronze medallist Warren Weir has opined.

Weir, who is retired from athletics, was expressing his views on recent reports that four top Jamaican athletes are in the process of switching allegiance to Türkiye.

The four athletes are Roje Stona, Olympic gold medallist at the 2024 Games; Rajindra Campbell, a silver medallist at the same games; as well as Wayne Pinnock and Jaydon Hibbert, TVJ Sports first reported.

Stona won the discus event in a new Olympic record of 70 metres.

It’s reported that the athletes will receive a US$500,000 signing bonus and monthly financial support.

The switch of allegiance by the four athletes has stirred wide public debate.

In a social media video on the weekend, Weir said at the end of the day, everyone, including athletes, want to be compensated financially for their efforts.

“When track and field done or when sports done, as much as you want something to show that you did it, you still want to make sure that you earned so you can move into the next part of life,” he said.

Weir, who won bronze in the men’s 200m at the 2012 London Olympic Games, said he will not bash the four athletes now in the process of switching allegiance to Türkiye.

“I encourage athletes to go out there and seek better opportunities for yourselves because at the end of the day sports is a short time span and some sports are not as lucrative as others and some events are not as lucrative as others,” he said.

Weir believes the “floodgates” are now open and that more athletes are going to leverage their talent for financial gain “because where we are from loyalty no really bring you far”.

“Me don’t mean say you can’t be loyal, but wha me a say is if you have talent, you can’t confuse talent and tell a man fi be loyal…if him nah eat food fi him an him family,” he explained.

He also questioned why so many Jamaicans migrate to the United States and later enlist in the military.

“Is it because they love go war? No, they are doing it for opportunities, they doing it for a better way,” he reasoned.

“Why would you get up and fight for a country where you never born. That’s the same concept with the athletes switching,” he added.

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