CREDIT: JOHN SING
Olympian and former Fanshawe student Damian Warner visited the campus recently for a radio interview.

Olympic decathlete Damian Warner was back at his alma mater for the first day of classes. The tall, soft-spoken young man was not what you might expect out of a decathlete, but one thing is for sure: Warner wants to be the best in the world and if his bronzemedal finish at the World Championships is any indication, he is certainly on the path to success.

“It was something that we expected (a podium finish at Worlds) after London finishing fifth, I knew moving forward that I just wanted to be on the podium from here on out. All this year at training camps and competitions we have been just gearing up for Moscow,” said Warner.

The decathlete has made tremendous gains, especially at the World Championships, skyrocketing from 18th place in 2011 to third in 2013. Something changed for Warner after 2011; when he saw the athletes carrying their flags, something clicked. “After the competition, I just told my coach that I want to be one of those people that are carrying their country's flag, and you only get that if you are the top three. That has been a huge goal and it was nice to experience that in Moscow,” said Warner.

At only 23 years old, he is in the budding stages of his career, already showing he can keep up with the best of the best, including world record holder Ashton Eaton, who Warner had the privilege of attending training camps with. Warner is currently ranked fourth in the decathlon world rankings, which he is looking to improve on with his last multi-track event the Decastar in France.

Despite the success he has achieved in the span of a few years, his introduction to the decathlon was not one without difficulty.

“About three years ago, after high school, my coaches came to me and brought up the idea. I hated it at first but slowly moved to it and fell in love with it after,” said Warner. “I just decided that if I really want to do this, if I'm going to do track and field than I am going to dedicate my time and I'm actually going to try to be the best in the world.”

An event that takes such discipline you might expect an athlete to have trained for years with the amount of success he has achieved. Warner didn't even hear about the decathlon until after high school. In fact, the London native spent most of his time in high school involved in anything but track and field. “I didn't play anything while I was here at Fanshawe besides rec basketball. During all my spares I was always in the gym shooting around or playing pickup games. In high school I played basketball every year and football for a couple years as well.” In fact, as he was growing up, Warner said he wanted to be “the next Vince Carter.” He may not be the next basketball superstar, but he has burst on the track and field scene and is flourishing under the guidance of his former Montcalm basketball coaches Gar Leyshon and Dennis Nielsen along with Western University track and field coach Vickie Croley.

It's only up from here as Warner has a plan for the future. “Moving forward I want to make sure I'm on the podium every meet, moving towards the Common wealth games, Pan Ams, Worlds and Rio 2016,” Warner said.

Warner's final meet of the year is in Talence, France at the Decastar in mid-September.