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Retirement is usually a hard decision for an athlete. Sean Duke is an exception.

The former Canada rugby sevens star has other plans after all: the time has come for him to start the career he’s thought of seriously for almost a decade, he’s off to medical school.

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There was also a herniated disc to throw into the equation.

The Vancouver native is just happy to be putting his brain to work and to be giving his body a proper chance to heal.

“I definitely don’t feel 100 per cent now,” he told The Province. The peak of his troubles were in March, right around the time of the inaugural Canada Sevens at B.C. Place.

He made a game go of it, but lasted just one game. “Olympics and med school were my two main goals,” he said. “Med school took a back seat for the past while. I was very much committed to rugby.”

So, rugby career closed, medical career open.

“The idea first got in my head when I was in Grade 12,” he said recently. “It’s been a long time coming.”