Power of 10
Warner sets Canadian record en route to decathlon gold,
When Damian Warner lined up for his1,500-metre run, the final event of the two-day decathlon, he had all but won the Pan Am Games gold medal. But he had to run faster than he ever had before to break the two-decade old Canadian record.
“I wanted the Canadian record so bad and I didn’t think there was a better place to have it than here at home,” Warner said.
The 25-year-old from London, Ont., has always said that if he had something to run for in that 10th event, the one that every decathlete loathes, he could find more speed and, Thursday night, he found four seconds of reasons.
There was Mike Smith’s 1996 record, which now has his name on it; there was the biggest supporting crowd he’ll have ever behind him; and a desire to show everyone that he and his team of coaches are doing things right.
“I keep improving and I’m going to keep improving and I’m just glad I get to share it with them,” he said, of his coaches. “I don’t think people understand the bond that we have, it’s like a family and I’m hoping that I can start with them and, one day, be a world record holder and Olympic champion with them behind me.”
Warner put up four personal bests — in the 100 metres, the long jump, the discus and the 1,500 metres — to take the Canadian and Pan Am record to 8,659 points.
It was another leap towards his next goals, which will come on worldwide stages.
When decathletes are introduced in the 1,500 they don’t smile and wave to the crowd — they look like they’re being lined up for a firing squad. They look very much alone. But Warner is never alone. Every throw, jump and step he takes in competition may be a physical experience for him but it’s an emotional one for his coaches who, at times, seem more exhausted by the ups and downs of this gruelling event than he is.
These days, Warner is known as one of the top multi-eventers in the world — Thursday morning he ran the fastest 110 hurdles in a decathlon by anyone, ever — and he is a medal favourite for the upcoming world championships and the Rio Olympics.
But two of his coaches, Gar Leyshon and Dennis Nielsen, have been with him since he was a teenager who walked through the halls of his London, Ont., high school talking to no one and going nowhere.
He didn’t like school much, defi-
“I keep improving and I’m going to keep improving and I’m just glad I get to share it with them.” DAMIAN WARNER ON HIS DECATHLON COACHES
nitely didn’t read as much as English teachers Leyshon and Nielsen wanted.
He didn’t show up to as many basketball practices as they would have liked either. But they saw the athletic potential and the man he could become, and they drove him, figuratively and literally, to find that within himself.
It wasn’t long after, that his other two coaches, Western University’s Vickie Croley and Dave Collins, came on board.
When Warner competes they’re all along the side of the track, whether it’s the event they specialize in or not. The coaches live each up and down as it happens on the track and then rehash among themselves.
Before the 100 metres it’s Croley who is worried because of the potential for false starts.
In the long jump, Nielsen turns away just as Warner is set to go. He can’t bear to watch.
In pole vault, always a tricky event, everyone holds their breath.
“My coaches are so emotional, so invested,” Warner said.
“I can see the emotions on their face and sometimes it’s great to see but there’s other times when I just have to stay calm so I avoid them as much as possible.”
It was at the London Olympics that Warner received his first flicker of fame.
He was sitting third through the first eight events and, ultimately, finished fifth. It was an astonishingly strong performance for someone so new to the sport — it was just his 10th decathlon, ever.
The Pan Am meet is still just his 17th decathlon.
“He’s still a huge bundle of potential,” Leyshon said.
“People don’t see it but he’s so tough.” It’s easy to miss. Warner is so approachable he signed a kid’s autograph and let a woman take a selfie with him while his long jump event was still going on. “He’s very relaxed and focused at the same time,” Leyshon said.
That’s the perfect attitude for a decathlete, said Smith, who forecast his record was going down early on Thursday, helped on by the home crowd, which he figured must be worth an extra 100 points.
“It’s awesome,” Smith said. “Records are made to be broken.”
“He’s an exception athlete.”