Damian Warner captures 5th Hypo Meeting decathlon title
Doug Harrison | CBC Sports | Posted: May 26, 2019 5:45 PM | Last Updated: September 24, 2019
Canadian posts world-leading 8,711 points to beat Grenada's Lindon Victor in Austria
Damian Warner began his Sunday running a season-best time in the 110-metre hurdles on the way to a 2019 world-leading total of 8,711 points to top the men's decathlon at the Hypo Meeting in Götzis, Austria.
The London, Ont., native finished 238 points clear of Grenada's Lindon Victor (8,473) in winning his fifth Hypo title. Maicel Uibo of Estonia earned 8,353 points for a third-place finish.
Warner, 29, amassed a world-leading 8,795 points last year to break his own Canadian decathlon record by 100, set at the 2015 world championships in Beijing, China.
The 2016 Olympic bronze medallist awoke Sunday to a 160-point lead over Ashley Moloney of Australia entering the final five disciplines at the two-day competition.
Warner started on a winning note with his 13.64-second clocking in hurdles that fell shy of his 13.56 performance from a year ago in Götzis.
WATCH | Warner wins the 100m hurdles event:
Move home paying off
He went on to finish fifth in the discus throw (47.23 metres) and javelin (63.67) while a 4.60m effort in pole vault ranked 22nd. The latter two performances were also season bests.
Warner led Victor by 122 points entering the final discipline, the 1,500, and then crossed the finish line nearly 20 seconds ahead of his closest competitor, stopping the clock in 4:37.39 for 12th, compared to Victor's 4:56.37.
Warner is seeing the benefit of the move home last September from Calgary to work with Gar Leyshon, his high school coach, as the Canadian athlete has already reached the podium seven times this outdoor season across various disciplines, including three victories.
On Saturday, Warner stopped the clock in 10.12 in the men's 100, 3-100ths of a second faster than his own decathlon record set in 2016 at Götzis.
WATCH | Damian Warner bests his 100m decathlon record:
He also placed second in long jump (7.67m), third in shot put (15.34m) and high jump (2.00m) and fifth in the 400 (47.38), all season bests.
WATCH | Warner reflects on his win: