Gold medallist has strong ties to hometown London, Ont.
London, Ont.’s latest gold medallist truly has his roots firmly planted in the Forest City.
Using local coaches and facilities, Damian Warner made it to the top of the decathlon world by winning the gold at the Tokyo games.
Eleven years ago he was featured as one of CTV News London’s Athletes of the Week, with aspirations of making it to the world stage and now he has delivered.
“Everybody saw what potential he had and how unbelievable he was,” says one of his coaches, Dave Collins. “Everybody knew that the stars would eventually align and this would happen.”
Coach Gar Leyshon accompanied Damian to the games in Japan, but Collins and Coach Dennis Nielsen stayed behind in London.
“He was a diamond in the rough, but Gar and I knew right off the hop that he was special,” says Nielsen. “He just had that much athleticism.”
Prior to the games in Tokyo, Warner did not have access to the most sophisticated training facilities because during the COVID-19 pandemic he was working out inside the old Farquharson Arena in south London.
“It felt like Rocky IV if you’ve ever seen it -- training in a cold, old hockey arena,” says Collins. “You know the other athletes were training in pristine conditions and here we are trying to put things together to make it work and the community made it work.”
Warner’s long-time business manager Jeff Fischer says after getting gold he expects things to heat up even more.
“You know we have great soccer players and swimmers and hockey players but when it comes down to the basics of run, jump and throw, he is the best in the world and we shouldn’t be ashamed to say that because he is.”
So many elite athletes leave where they grew up to train in hopes of becoming the best. But Warner stayed with the hometown coaches and facilities that lifted him to world class success.
And Nielsen says he’s not done yet, “I don’t think we’ve seen the best yet of Damian Warner, I think when he retires from decathlon he will be revered as the best decathlete the world has ever seen.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.