Trae ‘Quadzilla’ Williams shocks athletics with Olympic defection

Australian 100 metre champion Trae ‘Quadzilla’ Williams has stunned the athletics world just one year out from the 2020 Olympics by defecting to rugby where he’ll look to win gold in Tokyo on the field rather than on the track.

Aussie sprint star Trae Williams is making the jump to rugby. Picture: AAP

Australia’s fastest man Trae Williams has turned his back on athletics to chase a gold medal in Rugby 7s at the 2020 Olympics.

The 100m runner, who last week represented Australia in the 4x100m at the World Relay Championships in Doha, has reportedly accepted a $120,000 deal to make the shift.

The 22-year-old in no stranger to football having played schoolboy rugby in Queensland for St John’s Anglican College and rugby league for Souths Acacia Ridge - the junior club that produced Broncos playmaker Anthony Milford.

Before commiting to athletics, Cowboys football manager Peter Parr said Williams had attended several of the club’s academy training sessions in Brisbane in 2014, used to evaluate talent, but no contract offer had been offered.

Dubbed Quadzilla because of his massive quadriceps, Williams, 20, has fast hands to match his fast feet and in 2014 agonised over which sport he should choose when he won a bronze medal at the Youth Olympic Games.

The signing of Williams, and his blistering speed, gives Australia’s faltering Olympic qualification a massive boost.

Commonwealth Games sprinter Trae Williams is making the jump to rugby sevens. Picture: Brendan Hertel

Twelve teams will contest the men’s rugby sevens at the Tokyo Olympics next year.

As hosts, Japan automatically qualify, as will the top four finishers in this season’s HSBC Sevens Series - which Australia is currently sitting outside of. If they don’t quality, Australia’s next chance to qualify for 2020 is through the Oceania Sevens Championship, held in November.

In confirming the move, a spokesman for Athletics Australia thanked Trae for his time in athletics and added: “Trae has had a sensational career representing Australia in athletics.”

Williams career highlights include:

-He represented Australia at the Youth Olympic Games (2014) and World U20 Championships (2016), winning a bronze medal at the Youth Olympic Games.

-As a senior athlete he represented Australia on five occasions and Oceania once. The highlights being fourth places at the world relays and Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and a bronze at the 2018 Continental Cup.

-He was an integral member of the successful Australian men’s 4x100m relay.

-His breakthrough came at the 2018 Commonwealth Games trials where he ran a 10.10 100m, which was the fastest time by an Australian for 11 years.

Originally published as Trae ‘Quadzilla’ Williams shocks athletics with Olympic defection