LANGFORD, B.C. — Jesse Lumsden is putting on a different set of cleats.
Lumsden, a former CFL star and Olympic bobsledder, will be training at the Canadian Rugby Centre of Excellence starting on Monday.
Lumsden will join Canada’s men’s rugby team in speed, fitness and skill assessments as part of Rugby Canada’s continued search for the best rugby sevens athletes.
"Having the opportunity to assess and develop an athlete of Jesse’s calibre is exciting for us as the profile of rugby sevens grows in the build-up to the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016," said Steve Lancaster, high performance manager for Rugby Canada.
Lumsden is an ideal recruit for rugby sevens, having played for the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Edmonton Eskimos and Calgary Stampeders.
The six-foot-one, 223-pound former running back — who consistently ran the 40-metre dash in 4.4 seconds — competed for Canada at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympic Games as a bobsledder.
Rugby Canada is launching its Try 4 Gold campaign in October, a nation-wide search for high-performance athletes who’ve never played rugby but are interested in participating.
"Jesse possesses a number of the qualities we’re looking for in a crossover athlete — explosive speed, power and mental toughness — through our Try 4 Gold Campaign," said Lancaster.
"Our goal is to find and harness the best athletes and rugby players in the country to be successful at the Olympics."
