Damian Warner has another medal to add to his collection.
The Londoner captured bronze in the decathlon at the 2019 World Track and Field Championships in Doha, Qatar.
The finish matches Warner’s performance at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and the 2013 World Championships in Moscow. Warner’s best finish came in 2015 in Beijing, China, when he came second to Ashton Eaton of the United States.
The decathlon is known as the most gruelling event in any athletic competition.
And there is a reason that it ends with its greatest test of endurance: the 1500m.
Going into that final event, four competitors had a legitimate shot at taking this year’s title.
Strangely, world record holder Kevin Mayer was not one of them. Mayer withdrew after his second attempt in the pole vault. He had been receiving treatment on his thighs during the two-day event.
Warner entered the 1500m in second place overall, just 15 points behind Maicel Uibo of Estonia. He had maintained that position throughout much of the competition and was never lower than third after any event.
The Montcalm Secondary School alumnus ran a 4:40.77 in the 1500m which was good enough for ninth in the finishing race but not good enough to catch Uibo, who crossed the finish line in 4:31.51. That solidified second place and a silver medal for Uibo.
Twenty-one-year old Niklas Kaul of Germany stole the final show with a 4:15.70 in the 1500m, which propelled him to the top of the leaderboard and his first gold medal in any major international competition. This was his first time competing at the Worlds.
Warner ran a 10.35 in the 100m to kick off the competition. Then, Warner jumped 7.67 metres in the long jump and came very close to his personal best in shot put. The reigning Pan-Am Games champion was just centimetres off his personal best.
He cleared a season-best 2.02 metres in the high jump and then ran a 48.12 in the 400m.
Warner finished first in Doha in the 110m hurdles which is consistently one of his strongest events. He ran a 13.56.
That was .12 seconds off his best time ever in that event, which is the fastest time ever run by any decathlete.
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