(Sports news) Damian Warner achieved one of the best performances in the history of Decathlon at the Tokyo Olympics. This year, he has been breaking records in the overall points category as well as in certain events. The Decathlon is the toughest sport as an athlete has to perform well in 10 events each vastly different from others.
The 10 events are 100m, Long jump, Shot put, Javelin throw, Discus throw, High jump, 400m, 110m, 1500m and Pole Vault. So far only four athletes have gone past the 9000 mark in the event, Warner was the last one to do it as he created a new Olympic record. He won the bronze medal in the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympics and can now become the third man to win the event twice at the Olympics. Ashton Eaton was the last person to win it twice at Rio, he and Roman Sebrle held the previous record although Sebrle achieved it in 2004 and Ashton equalled it 12 years later.
Warner holds the decathlon record in 100m, Long jump and 110m hurdles; he ran the 100m in 10.12 secs and jumped 8.28m in the Long jump along with a timing of 13.36sec. All the performances are impressive even for athletes who only specialize in these particular events, Warner would have won the bronze medal at Tokyo in the Long jump event with that jump. Decathlon athletes have come close to the regular standards as each athlete has his own set of events to excel, only few are able to match the regular standards of athletes who specialize in the event.
The 32 year old became the first athlete to break the 9000 mark in Olympics, Sebrle was the first person to cross the mark and did it in 2001. Eaton remains the only man to do it twice, he did it in 2012, 15 and Kevin Mayers did it in 2018. Warner had come close to achieving it in May this year as he fell short by 5 points. Warner has the chance of breaking the world record as he had a 300 point lead over silver medalist Mayers and 400 point lead against bronze medalist Ashley Moloney. Warner finished in the top 10 in 8 events which included three top finishes, in the long jump he was the only one to clear 8 metres and cleared it by a long margin. His jump of 8.24m was far ahead of the second placed Pierce Lepage who jumped 7.65m, in shot and pole vault he was placed 11th.
The two time Olympic medallist will be certainly looking to build the lead in the sprint and jump event. He has been on top in the 400m and in Discus throw, even in the 1500m he was close to the top three finish showing how he has dominated the decathlon event. Warner is certainly the most complete athlete as the winner of the event is deservingly awarded the title, he is close to breaking the world record and the 2022 season can bring the best out in him.
Also read: Erriyon Knighton following Bolt’s footsteps in the 200m
