UP NEXT: PARIS
Why Ontario decathlete Lepage is the one to watch
As if decathlon isn't exhausting enough, Damian Warner was dishing after his record-setting, good-for-gold performance at Tokyo's Olympic Stadium on what could be the unofficial 11th event. Number crunching. “The points calculator is kind of a curse, you know?” Warner said with a smile. “It's one of those things that's so addicting and the more and more I do it ... You just keep putting these dumb numbers into the calculator, and it's like, `What if I do this? Would this be possible? Would this be possible?' ”
Which brings us to another type of calculation.
From his perch as the newly-crowned king of Olympic decathlon, Warner was wondering aloud what some of the up-andcomers might be capable of.
He marvelled, in particular, at what he thinks the future could hold for Pierce Lepage, a mountain of a man in an event where every competitor looks like they were carved from granite. Lepage had just finished fifth in his Olympic debut — and he'd done so with a torn patellar tendon in his right knee, although the 25-year-old from Whitby, Ont., seemed to shrug that off as no biggie, insisting it was only a hassle in high jump and not the other nine disciplines.
Thing is, Australia's Ashley Moloney — the eventual bronze medallist — scored 112 points higher than Lepage in high jump. The difference in their total tallies was only 45.
“I was telling some people, I'm happy that I got my chance at an Olympic gold medal now, because I'm 31 years old now — I'm an old guy — and you have guys like Ashley and Pierce coming up, and they are just incredible,” Warner said, then zeroing his focus on Lepage. “I mean, you don't have too many guys that are 6-foot-8 that can run 10.3 (in the 100-metre) and pole vault 5.30 metres and have arms down to the ground.
“That's a great athlete right there. I think that over the years he's going to ... I don't think he's going to surprise a lot of people, because people know he's coming. But I'm happy I had my opportunity to come in before Pierce kind of takes over.”
Warner will be remembered as one of Canada's stars at these pandemic-delayed Summer Games. Even with Tokyo turned into a sauna, the temperate feeling close to 45C at track level on back-to-back days, he made the decathlon seem like a cakewalk.
Lepage, however, is a name to know for Paris 2024. Warner talked excitedly about his own future, too, so fans in Canada can perhaps dream about a decathlon double.
They had started already when Lepage was third on the leaderboard after the opening day of action in Tokyo, and that was despite having to retire after clearing only 1.99 metres in high jump. He was still hanging in podium position after eight events before fading to fifth with a career-high haul of 8,604 points.
“I'd be lying to say I wasn't disappointed,” said Lepage, who capped the meet by shaving nine seconds off his fastest time in the 1,500-metre race. “It's not every day you get a (personal best) and you're kind of upset at the end.”
This might provide some encouragement — Warner, for what it's worth, was fifth in his Olympic intro at London 2012. He earned bronze in Rio in 2016.
Lepage refused to blame his knee injury for the near-miss in Tokyo — “I still could have done better in so many events, right?” — and talked about the importance of improving in the javelin throw. With his build, he looks like he should be able to sail one of those spears over the back wall of the stadium, but he hasn't mastered the heave just yet.
“It's the hardest event for me to learn,” Lepage said. “I'm pretty fast. Jumping comes naturally. But throwing ...
“It's one of those things I'm going to be looking forward to fixing in the next championships.”
Lepage wasn't the least bit surprised by Warner's historic performance in Tokyo, where the class act from London, Ont., shattered the Olympic record and became just the fourth dude in decathlon history to break the 9,000-point barrier.
In fact, he was almost expecting this after Warner nearly hit that mark in May in Austria.
“Usually your first decathlon of the season is a little rusty. So if he scored over 8,900 with rust, I was like, `He's going to do something big in Tokyo.'
“He works so hard and he deserves this more than any decathlete I know. I'm excited for him, happy for him.”
Likewise, Warner sees big things ahead for Lepage.
Based on his calculations, this guy is going to be a star.
(Javelin is) the hardest event for me to learn. I'm pretty fast. Jumping comes naturally. But throwing ... It's one of those things I'm going to be looking forward to fixing ...