Jamaican athlete Warren Weir condemns shoe companies for not choosing athletes in their marketing strategy

Jamaican sprinter Warren Weir expressed his take on big sports shoe brands assigning actors and influencers for promotion instead of athletes. The 33-year-old wrote his views on his social media handle, adding that he does not care what others think but the reality is that actors are preferred over athletes to promote brands.

Olympic bronze medalist Warren Weir emerged as a 200m specialist in 2011 after joining the Racers Track Club. He trained under Glen Mills, who also trained Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake. One of Warren’s biggest career highlights is the silver medal that he achieved at the 2013 Moscow World Championships, finishing behind legend Usain Bolt. Moreover, he announced his retirement after not advancing from the heats in the 200m at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics in London.

Recently, the former athlete criticized the practice of big shoe companies assigning actors and influencers to promote their brands. He wrote in his Instagram story,

"I don’t care what nobody say but these shoe companies have the marketing power to make track big but continue to put influencer and actors on store front and in commercial."

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Throwback to when Warren Weir changed his sport

The athlete at 14th IAAF World Athletics Championships Moscow 2013 - Day Seven

In 2017, when Warren Weir announced his retirement from track and field, he decided to open another athletic door for himself by becoming a part of the rugby sevens national team. He joined Crocs, Jamaica’s sevens team, and revealed that he had temporarily changed his sport.

Moreover, he was set to make his debut at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Barranquilla, Colombia.

The reason for Weir changing his sport was because he picked up a hamstring injury in early April at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. However, he explained to Olympics.com that the change in his sport did not mean the end of his sprint career. He expressed that he wanted to find another way to contribute to his country and that he did not want to limit himself.

Furthermore, Warren Weir said,

“I’d love to be that 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, the would be a wonderful story to tell.”