Warner surpasses childhood dream with bronze
Warner captures decathlon bronze after ‘do-or-die moment’ in javelin
Damian Warner is set to become a poster child for the power of positive thinking with his bronze medal in the Olympic decathlon.
For at age 12, Warner correctly predicted his future in a Grade 7 assignment on what he envisioned his life would look like as an adult. “In 10 years from today, I will have a job in the NBA or a runner in the Olympics,” Warner wrote on a lined page with three holes punched down the side,
Ten years later, Warner competed for Canada in the decathlon at the London Olympics, finishing fifth. And on Thursday, some 14 years after his initial prognostication, the soft-spoken 26-year-old became only the second Canadian ever to win a medal in the decathlon. “It’s pretty awesome,” said Warner, a Canadian flag draped over his shoulders in the mixed zone just as Andre De Grasse was about to run for silver in the 200 metres. “I said I was going to go to the Olympics. Now I’ve been to two and I get to stand on top of the podium. “There’s only three guys in the world who get to stand on top of that decathlon podium and I’m one of those guys.”
He came to Rio for gold. He walked off the track with bronze at the end of the gruelling two-day event that unofficially crowns the world’s greatest athlete.
But the soft-spoken track star has no regrets, especially considering all of Canada felt the bronze slipping away after his first two throws in the second-to-last event, the javelin.
With a tenuous hold on third place, the spear flew 58.01 metres on his first attempt. His second try only travelled 56.74 metres.
It all came down to his third and final throw.
“I was just being a little tentative,” he said. “My first two throws weren’t that good. I just told myself, ‘This is a do-or-die moment,’ I just went out there and tried to give it my all.”
In his do-or-die moment, Warner unleashed the javelin and watched it soar 63.19 metres.
His support team from back home in London, Ont. — including his mom Brenda, girlfriend Jenn and high school coaches Gar Leyshon and Dennis Nielsen — roared in the stands at Olympic Stadium for a medal saved.
Talk about clutch or, in Canadian terms, the TSN turning point. “That was the difference-maker in this decathlon,” Warner said after sealing the bronze in the 1,500 metres. “I’m very happy that I was able to pull it out. “I wanted to challenge for that gold spot. But there’s so many ups and downs in the decathlon.”
By definition, every decathlon features ups and downs. Day 1 of the event features the 100 metres, long jump, shot put, high jump and the 400 metres. Day 2 moves on to the 110-metre hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and the 1,500 metres. The medals go to the men who accumulate the most points in all the events combined. So mental toughness is key.
No one will debate Warner’s mental toughness — or the loyalty shown by the eldest of three siblings brought up in a single-parent household. (His mom, Brenda Gillan, regularly held down two jobs — logging roughly 75 hours a week as a personal support worker — to pay the bills for her young family.)
Most Canadian track athletes train in the warmer climates of the U.S., but Warner opted to stay at home in London and continue working with Leyshon and Nielsen, his high school basketball coaches, and Vickie Croley of Western University.
After crossing the finish line, Warner rushed straight to his cheering section to say thank you. “I saw them, but there was a barrier, so I couldn’t quite get to them,” he said. “All my family are there. It’s kind of like a little tease. I got to see my mom, but I had to jump up and climb over some things.” Mother and son embraced. “She was happy,” he said. “But then she was just hugging me super tight, so I didn’t fall off the thing that I was standing on.”
Ashton Eaton of the United States won gold with 8,893 points. He’s the first man to defend the Olympic decathlon title in 32 years. France’s Kevin Mayer leapfrogged Warner for silver with 8,834 points.
Thanks to a season-best 8,666 points, Warner becomes the first Canadian to win a decathlon medal since Dave Steen — now a firefighter in Windsor, Ont. — claimed bronze at the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul.
Many in Canada consider Eaton an honourary citizen given the flak he took here in Rio for wearing a Team Canada hat when his wife Brianne Theisen-Eaton, of Humboldt, Sask. competed and won bronze in the heptathlon.
Canada has now won five medals in track and field here in Rio. Four years ago in London, Derek Drouin was the only Canadian to reach the podium in athletics.
“I feel like the luckiest athlete in the world,” Warner said. “I would not be here without my coaches, family and friends. They made me who I am, an Olympic bronze medallist.”
I said I was going to go to the Olympics. Now I’ve been to two and I get to stand on top of the podium. There’s only three guys in the world who get to stand on top of that decathlon podium and I’m one of those guys.