'Most competitive decathlon ever': London's Damian Warner looks to defend gold against deepest ever field

London's own Damian Warner has a chance to make Olympic decathlon history.

“Damian has a chance to join the GOAT (greatest of all-time) conversation here if you win two Olympic medals,” said Gar Leyshon, Warner’s coach. “It has only happened three times.”

Warner, the defending gold medallist, could join Ashton Eaton, Daley Thompson and Bob Matthias as the only athletes to accomplish that feat.

However to defend the title, he needs to throw farther, and jump higher.

“The running and the jumping events, you want to make sure that those are top notch,” said Warner. “Then at the same time, you want to make sure that the pole vault, the javelin and the discus, the more technical events are where they need to be, I'm pretty happy with where they've been so far this year”.

Reaching the five-metre mark in pole vault could be the points he needs to separate himself from the field.

Damian Warner (right) goes over video of his pole vault practice with coach Dave Collins at Alumni Stadium in London, Ont. on July 9, 2024 (Brent Lale/CTV London)

Pole Vault is one of the second-day field events that could make the difference in what Leyshon is calling ‘the most competitive decathlon field of all-time.”

“There's a lot of guys that can score 85 (hundred points), and there's a lot of guys that can score 87 (hundred),” said Warner.

“I think that there's four guys entering this decathlon that have a PB (personal best) over 8,900 points and even two guys over 9,000. This is the highest level decathlon that there's ever been, so it's going to take a lot to win, but I feel like I'm super competitive.”

At 34 years old, Warner should not be a contender, but he does not feel like he’s aged.

“There's a lot of people who think that he's too old for this,” said Leyshon. “He's already the oldest one to have won an Olympic gold medal in the decathlon, and he did that in 2021. At 34 years of age, most guys are winding down their career but I think that Damian is a favourite.”

The betting odds have him as the second favourite to 24-year old Leo Neugebaur from Germany.

He has kept peak performance over the years thanks to a meticulous training schedule.

“I know what my body can tolerate,” said Warner. “Me, Gar, Dennis (Nielsen), Vickie (Crowley) and Dave (Collins). We all work together to know, how many jumps I can take in pole vault to feel good the next day.”

Damian Warner practices Pole Vault at Alumni Stadium in London, Ont. on July 9, 2024 (Brent Lale/CTV London)

Warner is ready for Paris where the popularity of track and field is enormous - the crowd is expected to be the largest in more than a decade.

“It's going to be nuts,” said Leyshon. “It's going to be, a crazy scene at the stadium (Stade de France) because the world record holder (in the decathlon), Kevin Meyer, is from France. There's going to be a lot of French people there just to see him. There will be 70,000- 80,000 people cheering for everything you do. The last time was 2012 at the Olympics in London.”

For Warner, competing against the world’s best is all he has ever wanted. “Since I was a kid wanting to go to the Olympics, it’s for experiences like this,” said Warner.

“To go back as the returning gold medallist is a huge honour. Now it's a matter of time to just go back there and try to defend this thing.”

Warner’s competition schedule begins on Friday August 2, at 4:05 a.m. with the 100m.