London galling, but that’s history

Warner wins Decastar to erase worlds agony

In years past, Damian Warner might not have bothered with the Decastar decathlon, which is positioned better on the map than the calendar.

It’s in Talence, in the usually sunny south of France. Some track coaches joke that they flock there in midSeptember for the sun and the wine. Some decathletes undoubtedly go for the cash, given that it’s the last major decathlon of the season and is key to finishing high up in the IAAF’s rather lucrative Combined Events Challenge standings.

Warner put two solid days together last weekend and won the Decastar for a second time, finished second in the challenge and pocketed $20,000 US. But that wasn’t the point.

“I try not to do the sport for money,” the 27-year-old said Friday from his home in Calgary. “In 2013, I went to Talence specifically for the reason to finish (well) in the Combined Events Challenge and to win money and it was the worst experience that I’ve ever had. It was just terrible.

“I mean, the atmosphere was amazing and I had a good time hanging out with the other competitors, but it just felt like a different motivational style. Something was a little off, something that I didn’t enjoy as much as other times in the past when I was competing for medals or trying to beat somebody or trying to get a Canadian record, something that matches my goals in the sport.

“Competing for the money has never really been something for me. It’s just trying to do the best that I can. When you do the best that you can, money follows. I can’t look at it the other way around.”

This time, Talence was all about putting the misery of the world championships in London in the rear-view mirror. Having contracted a suspected case of Norwalk virus, as had some of his Canadian teammates, Warner gutted it out and finished fifth. But he was a preworlds gold medal favourite.

“Going to worlds and being sick and not able to perform the way I wanted to was a little frustrating. I wanted to go somewhere, just be healthy and compete. It was important to be able to end the season in a way that I could control.”

Mission accomplished. Day One at Talence: second in 100m, first in long jump, sixth in shot put, first in high jump and second in 400m. Day Two: first in 110m hurdles, seventh in discus, 10th in pole vault, ninth in javelin, ninth in 1,500m.

He racked up 8,252 points, 232 more than Germany’s Kai Kazmirek, who had won bronze in London. Warner was nowhere near his Canadian record of 8,695, but it didn’t matter.

“I knew that if I won that competition, it showed something for me and showed something to the other competitors as well. I was happy I was able to go there and win the competition, numbers and statistics aside.”

He also won the prestigious Hypo Meeting at Gotzis in May. On balance, it was a good season, particularly since he moved away from his longtime coaching and home base in London (Ont.) in the fall of 2016 to train with coach Les Gramantik in Calgary.

“It showed that I was able to win these competitions before and I’m still able to win them now,” said Warner. “I think it means to me that it wasn’t necessarily a bad decision (to move), that there is still room to improve, Damian Warner competes in the men’s javelin throw during the Decastar challenge last Sunday in France.