Jillian Weir, Indigenous Olympian

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics--celebrated in 2021 because of concerns for further spread of the COVID-19 Virus and Delta variant-can boast of the highest number of Indigenous participants than in any other Olympiad.

From only three Indigenous athletes in the 2016 Rio Olympics, fifty such athletes headed to Japan to compete in the Tokyo 2020 games-the most ever selected in Olympic history. Sixteen participants hail from Australia alone, thirty-three from New Zealand, several are Native Hawaiian, and one is Tahitian.

To date, out of its numerous Indigenous peoples, only one such athlete hails from Canada-Jillian Weir-whose heritage through her mother is Mohawk of the Bay of Quinte in Tyendinaga Territory near Toronto.

Born to Kim Armstrong and Robert Weir, Jillian was reared in Menlo Park, California and "inherited" several of her father's athletic skills: he is a three-time Olympian, and a 12-time Great Britain national champion. He was head men's coach and throws coach at Stanford University from 2004–2008.

While his son, Robbie, and daughter were in middle school and high school, they enjoyed hanging out on the field where their father coached. The elder Weir noticed then that his son enjoyed the comradeship of team sports while daughter Jillian preferred to compete. She played softball, soccer, water polo, and basketball. She also participated in shot put competitions.

Although her abilities in shot put and discus would earn her a scholarship to the University of Oregon, Jillian was also a 2014–2015 All American track-and-field athlete. She did not discover her present discipline until she picked up a hammer.

And it is as a hammer thrower that Olympic rookie Jillian Weir will compete for Gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games. She hopes to hurl the iron ball-16-pounds for women-farther than all the world's finest women competitors. Her personal best is 237 feet 10 inches (or 72.50 meters).

While Jillian Weir is apparently Team Canada's only Indigenous athlete this time, she believes that "Just to have the representation out there is a big deal . . . The exposure to more sports will get more [Indigenous] kids involved and lead to opportunity."

When Jillian Weir competes against 31 other throwers, many of whom started much earlier in the sport, are more experienced and several who have thrown the hammer farther that she has, Jillian will draw on her Indigenous courage: "Mohawk people are fighters," she says. She proves this by already planning for the 2024 Olympic games, and preparing to compete for future national teams.

Her maternal grandmother, Carol Udall, assures that the entire Mohawk tribe is proud of Jillian, and says that her granddaughter "would tell any young athlete that you get what you work hard for."

Although becoming an Olympian garners her lots of attention, the twenty-eight-year-old seems realistic regarding the vagaries of any competition---including the 2020 Olympic Games. "I am still developing as an athlete," she says. "And I believe that I have a ways to go until I reach my full potential." She further states, "If I can inspire any Indigenous youth, it's hard to put into words what that would mean."

Sources:

Barnes, Dan, July 20, 2021, Grua, Paul, Deseret News, Olympic

Ninham, Dan, Special to Indian Country Today, July 2021

Jillian Weir-Team Canada Official Olympic Website

Wikipedia

Powwows.com webpage, Meet the Indigenous Athletes Competing in the Tokyo Olympics

KB Schaller is the International Book Award-winning author of 100+ Native American Women Who Changed the World, Women's Issues Category, available through amazon.com and other booksellers. Contact: soaring-eagles@msn.com