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Jillian Weir on Water Polo, Tokyo and the Fight for Hammer Throw in the Diamond League
Most Olympic throwers pick up their event young and never put it down. Jillian Weir did it the other way around. She spent seven years in a water polo pool, played just about every sport a California kid could find, and didn't throw a hammer until she got to university. Today she has competed for Team Canada for more than a decade, has a Commonwealth Games medal, and has thrown at the Olympic Games. "I think that is a key part of the athlete that I've become and some of the success that I've had," she told David Stark about that wide-open childhood.
Along the way she has also become one of the loudest voices asking why her event, the one she says produces more force than any other in sport, still can't get a regular spot on track and field's biggest stage.
A three-time Olympian at the dinner table
Weir grew up around high performance. Her dad has coached at Stanford and now coaches at the University of Missouri, and his own résumé set a high bar at home. "My dad's also a three-time Olympian, no big deal," she laughed. "A little bit of pressure." He also played in the CFL. In her words, he "just casually competes in the Olympic Games when he's not being my dad."
She wasn't pushed into his events, though. Growing up in California, she played water polo for seven years, along with softball, basketball and plenty more. "I was literally always doing something super athletic," she said. The pool gave her something she'd use later: "I had a good time playing water polo. I just had a good arm."
Late to the throws, then all in
Weir didn't narrow her focus until high school, and even then it wasn't to the hammer. "I didn't specialize to the throws until high school and I was throwing shot put and discus," she explained. "When I got to university, started doing the hammer throw and then I just got better."
She started at Long Beach State ("I took that opportunity because it felt right at the time") before moving to the University of Oregon. There, the results stacked up. "I went to Oregon, I registered, put in a lot of work and then the next three years I qualified for nationals every year." In her senior year, "I was fourth in the country and our team won the national title." The Ducks dominated their conference too: "We won every Pac-12 championship. So my whole time there we did not lose."
As for the famous Ducks vs. Beavers rivalry? On the track, she said, it wasn't much of one. Oregon State only had a women's program, and "to be honest, we didn't look at them as much of any competition."
Choosing Canada
Weir was born and raised in the United States, but her mom's whole side of the family is Canadian, and she spent almost every summer there. It was her mom who first raised the idea. "My mom kind of was like, hey, you know, if you want, you could probably compete on the Canadian team," she remembered. "For me it wasn't like I didn't feel American, I just felt closer ties to my Canadian family. It was just kind of an easy decision."
She made it as a teenager and has "now competed for Team Canada for over 10 years." Her heritage runs deeper than the maple leaf, too: "My grandmother is from the Mohawk tribe in Eastern Canada," and she represented Team Canada in Tokyo as an Indigenous athlete.
Commonwealth Games lessons and the scale of the Olympics
Her first Commonwealth Games, in Australia in 2018, didn't go to plan. "I did not compete well, so if I have any regrets, it was how the competition went," she admitted. She took the lessons with her. "When I went to my second Commonwealth Games I was a lot more prepared and then I ended up medalling."
Then came Tokyo. "Olympic Games are just like Commonwealth Games, I'd say, times 10 or 20," she said. Those Games were held during the pandemic, "so things were a lot more restricted," but the size and precision of the event still left a mark. She was open that the next cycle didn't go her way: "I did not make that Olympic team" for Paris.
"Commitment to the process is just something that I really liked," she said. "I feel like it's easy to think really far ahead and I try to stay in the present... it kind of just keeps me grounded and focused on what I'm doing and not get so caught up with the future."
Eat to throw far
For many athletes, nutrition talk is about cutting. Not for a hammer thrower. Weir said coaches have told her she was "a little undersized, like let's kind of up the calories, let's put some weight on... more protein... whatever you're doing, just do more and fuel yourself." She added: "I'm almost always trying to stay at or gain weight, and I've never had to cut."
Her refuel of choice in California is easy: "some good Mexican food... love a good carne asada taco or burrito."
Why hammer belongs in the Diamond League
The hammer throw is left out of the main Diamond League programme, and Weir laid out what that costs athletes. "Every Diamond League meeting you get $10,000 US for the win," she said. "If you win five or 10 of those a year, do the math, you're getting 50 to a hundred thousand US dollars." Without those meets, hammer throwers miss the prize money and the exposure sponsors look for.
Her pitch for the event is simple: it's a spectacle. "Out of any sport there is more kinetic energy generated in the hammer throw than any other sport," she said. "The power and the tension and the force that's generated is higher than anything."
Her advice for young athletes
Weir's advice starts with the basics. "Sleep is underrated. Get as much sleep as you can. Feel your body. Hydrate well," she said. "Focus on the little things and all those different components are really going to be those building blocks." And given her own path, she's firm on this one: "I would definitely suggest to not specialize too soon" and to "continue to be a well-rounded athlete."
Her last word was about the hard days. "I'd say just stick with it. Sometimes times are tough, whether it's mentally, physically, emotionally. You've got to take a couple steps back before you make a step forward. It's not always going to go your way, but if you have desire to get better, you just got to stick with it."
Key takeaways
Specializing late can work. Weir played water polo for seven years and didn't start the hammer until university.
Fuel for your event. For throwers, eating more and adding protein often matters more than cutting weight.
Bad competitions are tuition. A rough 2018 Commonwealth Games set up a medal at her next one.
Stay in the present. "Commitment to the process" keeps her grounded through setbacks, including missing Paris.
Sleep and hydration are the building blocks. The basics come before anything fancy.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Jillian Weir?
Jillian Weir is a hammer thrower who has competed for Team Canada for more than a decade. She threw at the Tokyo Olympics, has a Commonwealth Games medal, and was a national-championship-winning member of the University of Oregon track team.
Why does Jillian Weir compete for Canada?
She was born and raised in the US, but her mother's whole side of the family is Canadian and she spent almost every summer there. She chose Team Canada as a teenager because she felt close ties to her Canadian family.
Is the hammer throw in the Diamond League?
Not in the main Diamond League programme, which Weir argues costs hammer throwers prize money and exposure. She points out that each Diamond League win pays $10,000 US to athletes in included events.
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