Canadian Olympic gold medalist Damian Warner of London, Ontario won the 2021 Lionel Conacher Award on Wednesday, presented to the top Canadian male athlete of the year. Warner placed first in the men’s decathlon at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. He became the 13th track and field athlete to win the Lionel Conacher Award. Warner also won the Lou Marsh Award, which is awarded to Canada’s athlete of the year, earlier this month.
Also in 2021, Warner placed first at the Hypo-Meeting in Gotzis, Austria. It was his sixth title in Gotzis, which set a record for the most titles of all-time.
Warner also set numerous records in 2021. His 9018 points in the decathlon was an Olympic record. He also set a world record in the decathlon in the men’s long jump in Gotzis (8.28 metres), and tied his own world record in the decathlon in the men’s 100 metres at the Olympic Games (10.12 seconds).
The one statistic that was the most mind-boggling from Warner’s 2021 performances came in the men’s long jump in decathlon at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. His jump of 8.24 metres would have won Warner the Olympic bronze medal if he had decided to enter the Olympic men’s long jump competition. Warner was also the flag bearer for Canada in the closing ceremonies of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021.
