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
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
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.
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.