Damian David George Warner (born November 4, 1989) is a Canadian

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete specializing in

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...

. He is the 2020 Olympic champion and a three-time

World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

medallist (silver in

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, bronze in

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and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

). Warner also won the bronze medal at the

2016 Summer Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

and was the 2014 Commonwealth champion and the two-time and reigning Pan American champion from the

and 2019 Games. Warner holds the Pan Am Games record and the Canadian record for the decathlon, and the fourth-highest decathlon score in history. Competing in the

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

, he is the 2022 World Indoor champion. Notable for his sprinting, Warner holds decathlon bests in the 100 m and 110 m hurdles, running a 10.12 and 13.27 respectively. He formerly held the decathlon best in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

(8.28 m) as well.

Career

Early life and career

Warner was born on November 4, 1989 in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximat ...

to Kevin Warner and Brenda Philpott. He attended

Montcalm Secondary School Montcalm Secondary School is a comprehensive "Technology Emphasis" secondary school located in northeast London, Ontario, Canada. The school provides a range of programs for all students. Student population is roughly 800. Education Montcalm of ...

where he first showed his athleticism in Grade 10 on the football field and basketball courts. Warner's natural talent saw him move effortlessly into the athletics scene and by the age of 20, he had won

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

in the

at the 2010 Canadian championships with a final score of 7449. He continued to improve over the next two years, winning the decathlon in the next two national championships. His winning performance of 8107 in the 2012 championships was below the Olympic A qualifying standard of 8200, but in combination with his perceived future potential, he was selected to represent Canada at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

. Warner placed fifth at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, with a point total of 8442, a jump of 335 points over his previous best score.

2013: World Championship bronze

In his first outing of 2013 Warner won at the high-profile Hypo Meeting with a score of 8307 points, including bests of 2.09 m in the

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

and 62.84 m in the javelin throw. Following this Warner went into the

2013 World Championships in Athletics The 14th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (Moscow 2013) () was an international athletics competition held in Moscow, Russia, from 10–18 August 2013. Initially, Russia won the most gold medals to top the table for the first time since 200 ...

; after the first day he was in fifth place, but on the second day he tied a personal best in the pole vault and threw a personal best in the javelin to fight his way into the bronze medal position. After achieving his medal he said "This is such a great feeling, all the hard work my coaches and I put into this the last couple of years. In 2011 I finished 18th, saw the three medallists running around the track with their country's flags draped over their shoulders, I told my coaches that I want that to be me, pretty special feeling to achieve that." Warner's final score of 8,512 was a new personal best and was the first time a Canadian reached the podium in the decathlon at the World Championships since Mike Smith in 1995. He ended his 2013 season with a win at the Decastar meeting with a tally of 8161 points.

2014: Commonwealth Games champion

The

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

took place in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. There Warner participated in the decathlon winning the event with a score of 8,282. This was Warner's first decathlon of the year as he was sidelined much of the year with an ankle injury. Despite this he ran to a 10.29 in the 100 m, a games record for the decathlon, while also setting a PB in the 400 at 47.68. He finished the second day with a games record in the 110 m hurdles in a time of 13.50.

2015: Pan Am champion and World Championship silver

In 2015 Warner competed for the first time at the

Hypo-Meeting The Hypo-Meeting is an annual athletics (sport), athletics competition that takes place in the Mösle stadium in Götzis in Vorarlberg (Austria) held in the spring (late May, early June). In its history, a total of three world records have been se ...

Götzis Götzis is a town in the western Austrian state of Vorarlberg. The Alpine Rhine valley municipality belongs to the district of Feldkirch. Population Events The town is well known for its annual hypo-combined events meeting, the so-called Hyp ...

, but all three of his shot put attempts and did not finish the event. The next major event for him was the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak al ...

on home soil in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. Warner came into the event as the favourite and broke the national and Pan Am Games records with a score of 8,626. This beat Smith's record, which had stood since 1996. One month later at the

2015 World Championships in Athletics The 2015 IAAF World Championships ( zh, 第十五届世界田径锦标赛), the fifteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 22 to 30 August at the National Stadium in Beijing, China. Forty-three nations won medals, 144 of ...

Warner set a new national record of 8695 points and won a silver medal, behind

Ashton Eaton Ashton James Eaton (born January 21, 1988) is a retired American decathlete and two-time Olympic champion, who holds the world record in the indoor heptathlon event. Eaton was the second decathlete (after Roman Šebrle) to break the 9,000-point ...

's new world record.

2016: Olympic bronze

At the 2016 Olympics decathlon in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Warner was initially in second place behind Ashton Eaton, but following a surge by France's Kevin Mayer and mediocre performances in the shot put and high jump he dropped to third place by the end of the first day. On the second day, he regained second place, following a first-place finish in the 100-metre hurdles, but afterwards dropped behind Mayer again. Following the pole vault, he threatened to fall behind

Kai Kazmirek Kai Kazmirek (born 28 January 1991) is a German track and field athlete who competes in the decathlon. He holds a personal best of 8580 points for the event achieved in Rio 2016, as well as an indoor heptathlon best of 6173 points. He is a mem ...

, but ultimately protected his third-place position with the javelin throw. He finished in third place behind Eaton and Mayer, earning the bronze medal and becoming the second Canadian to medal in the decathlon, following Dave Steen at the 1988 Olympics in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

2017: World Championships

Warner competed at the 2017 IAAF World Championships. Unfortunately, he had to be quarantined after coming down with the

norovirus Norovirus, sometimes referred to as the winter vomiting disease, is the most common cause of gastroenteritis. Infection is characterized by non-bloody diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain. Fever or headaches may also occur. Symptoms usually devel ...

that affected many athletes in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

that year. Warner struggled on the first day of competition and had to settle for fifth overall.

2018: Commonwealth Games

Warner was named to the Canadian team for the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, ...

, where he was widely considered the frontrunner to defend his 2014 title. Warner performed strongly on the first day of the

, and midway through the second day, with seven events completed, was leading. However, disaster struck during the pole vault, when Warner failed to clear any height, immediately dropping from first place to sixth. With no chance of winning a medal, Warner opted to withdraw from the contest. Following his disappointment in Australia, Warner won his fourth (and third consecutive)

, setting a new Canadian record in the process.

2019: World bronze, Pan Am gold

In May 2019, Warner won his fifth Hypo-Meeting, becoming one of only three athletes to win the event five times. In the process, he broke his own record for the decathlon best in the 100m sprint with a time of 10.12 seconds, and set a new personal best in the shot put. Warner competed in the

2019 Pan American Games ; ay, Taqinipuniw anatt’apxtanxa'' , nations participating = 41 , athletes participating = 6,680 , events = 419 in 38 sports , opening ceremony = July 26 , closing ceremony = August 11 , officially opened by = Martín Vizcarra , to ...

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

, aiming to defend his 2015 title. Despite lingering ankle pain, he successfully repeated as the decathlon champion, finishing 273 points ahead of silver medalist Lindon Victor of

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pet ...

. Fellow Canadian decathlete Pierce LePage joined him on the podium as bronze medalist. Warner concluded the season with the

the 2019 World Championships in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor, it is home to m ...

. Midway though the event, defending champion Kevin Mayer of France withdrew as a result of injury, briefly making Warner the perceived favourite for the gold medal. However, Warner performed below his normal standard in some events, and was in second place heading into the final segment of the competition, the 1500m race. He finished ninth in that segment, below his personal best time, and dropped to third place overall behind a surging Niklas Kaul of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

and

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

's Maicel Uibo. This was his third World championship medal. However, with the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

forcing the cancellation of the 2020 international athletic season and the delaying of the Tokyo Olympics, it would prove to be his final competition for almost two years.

2021: Olympic gold

The pandemic brought additional challenges for Warner, as the training facilities at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thames R ...

were closed and he was unable to travel to the United States to train. Instead, he and his coaches transformed the unheated interior of

's 66-year-old Farquharson Arena into a decathlete training facility. However, he also later credited the time away from competition as affording the opportunity to heal persistent ankle injuries. Warner returned to competition at the 2021 Hypo-Meeting, where he became the first man to win six event titles. He set his third decathlon best, this time in the long jump, at 8.28m, and a new personal and national record in overall points, with 8,995 points. He was only five points short of becoming the fourth decathlete in history to score 9000 points. The decathlon event at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

was widely considered at the outset to be a contest for gold between Warner and French rival Kevin Mayer. On day one, Warner opened the event by repeating his world decathlon best time of 10.12 in the 100 m sprint, setting an Olympic Games record in the process. In the long jump, he recorded a distance of 8.24 metres, another Olympic record and just 0.04 shy of the world decathlon best he had set earlier at the Hypo-Meeting. His distance would have earned him a bronze medal in the

. He then set a season-best in the shot put, reaching 14.80 metres in his third throw. In the high jump, he cleared 2.02 m, but conceded ground to Mayer, who successfully cleared 2.08 m. Warner closed out the day in the 400 m, recording a season-best time of 47.48, finishing third behind Australian

Ashley Moloney Ashley Moloney (born 13 March 2000) is an Australian decathlete.Pierce LePage. Halfway through, Warner was in first place with 4722 points, 81 points ahead of Moloney. Day two of the Olympic decathlon began with Warner running the 110 m hurdles in 13.46, one-tenth of a second slower than his season-best, but an Olympic record, his third of the competition. He then recorded a 48.67 m opening discus throw, which would end up being the third-best in the field, ahead of Mayer. In the pole vault, traditionally his weakest event, Warner equalled his previous personal best of 4.90 m. Mayer cleared 5.20 m in the same segment where he was expected to make up significant ground, and as a result Warner maintained a lead of 361 points on his main rival at the end of eight of the ten events. Resuming competition in the afternoon, Warner's best javelin throw covered 63.44 m, close to his personal best. Mayer threw a new personal best distance of 73.09, gaining 147 points on Warner, but this still left Warner ahead by 214 points going into the closing 1500 m race. Warner came fifth in that segment, taking the gold medal and in the process becoming the fourth decathlete to score over 9000 points with a score of 9018. This was also a new Olympic record. He was the second Canadian man to win a medal at the Tokyo Olympics, after

Andre De Grasse Andre De Grasse (born November 10, 1994) is a Canadian sprinter. A six-time Olympic medallist, De Grasse is the reigning Olympic champion in the 200 m, and also won the silver in the 200 m in 2016. He won a second silver in the 4×100 re ...

. As a result of his achievement, Warner was named as Canada's flagbearer for the

Olympics closing ceremonies The Olympic Games ceremonies of the Ancient Olympic Games were an integral part of these Games; the modern Olympic games have opening, closing, and medal ceremonies. Some of the elements of the modern ceremonies date back to the Ancient Games from ...

. Warner subsequently stated that he hoped to compete at the

2024 Summer Olympics ) , nations = TBA , athletes = 10,500 ''(quota limit)'' , events = 329 in 32 sports (48 disciplines) , opening = 26 July 2024 , closing = 11 August 2024 , opened_by = , stadium = Stade de France Jardins du Trocadéro and River Seine , summe ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

to defend his title. At the end of the year, Warner was recognized with both the

Lionel Conacher Award The Lionel Conacher Award is an annual award given to Canada's male athlete of the year. The sports writers of the Canadian Press (CP) first conducted a poll to determine the nation's top athlete, of either gender, in 1932. Separate polls for the ...

from the

Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; french: La Presse canadienne, ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for the time's Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Pre ...

as the country's top male athlete and the Lou Marsh Trophy for Canada's top athlete.

2022: World heptathlon gold

Warner was scheduled to begin his season in March at the heptathlon event at the

2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships The 18th World Athletics Indoor Championships were held from 18 to 20 March 2022 in Belgrade, Serbia. Ethiopia headed the medal table, with 4 gold medals, despite winning only nine in total. United States, second on gold medals won with 3, won ...

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...

, but told his coaches in mid-February that he felt "terrible" and unprepared for competition. After extensive work with his coach, physiotherapist and sports psychologist he said "there's still a little bit of that funk in me, but I'm headed in the right direction with the steps we've taken this year from a technical standpoint and training-wise." His main rival, Mayer, was absent due to health complications from contracting COVID-19. Competing at the Indoor Championships, Warner set new personal bests in the 60 m sprint, the 60 m hurdles, and the long jump, the last of those also a new national record, and took the gold medal with a national record score. Attending the 2022 Hypo-Meeting, Warner was narrowly in second place after the first day of competition, two points behind Swiss decathlete Simon Ehammer, who broke Warner's decathlon best long jump performance at the previous year's meeting. On the second day he took the points lead in the hurdles event, and then maintained it through the remainder, winning his seventh (and sixth consecutive) event title. Warner opted to withdraw from the Canadian track and field championships, citing the need to manage a chronically sore knee in advance of the

2022 World Athletics Championships The 2022 World Athletics Championships was the eighteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships. It was held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, United States, from July 15–24, 2022, with the country hosting that competition for the fi ...

. Beginning his quest for the World title at

Hayward Field Hayward Field is a track and field stadium in the northwest United States, located on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. It has been the home of the university's track and field teams since 1921, and was the on-campus ho ...

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, ...

, Warner finished first in both the 100 m and the long jump on opening day, before posting season's best distances in both the high jump and the shot put. He equaled principal rival Kevin Mayer in the high jump, and narrowly beat him in the shot put, traditionally one of Mayer's areas of strength. As a result, he enjoyed a clear lead going into the final event of the first day, the 400 m, but suffered an apparent hamstring injury on the track and was forced to withdraw, ending his competition. Warner said he was "just going to go back and hope this heals and do what every other athlete does and get stronger, and hopefully get myself back on top of the world once again." It was subsequently determined that Warner had suffered a hamstring strain rather than a more serious tear, and was projected to take between six and eight weeks away from training. His coach, Gar Leyshon, speculated that he had a pattern of becoming injured in seasons where he had earlier competed at the World Indoor Championships.

Personal life

Warner and partner Jennifer Cotten, a former elite hurdler, became the parents of a son, Theo, in March of 2021.

Personal bests (outdoor)

Decathlon best The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ� ...

: Former decathlon best

Championship results

References

External links