Damian Warner: “This one’s gonna hurt for a really long time”
“This isn’t quite the press conference that I was hoping to have when I envisioned my experience here at the Olympics.”
That was how a thoroughly disappointed Damian Warner met Canadian media on Sunday at Paris 2024, the day after the defending Olympic champion bowed out of the decathlon following three consecutive missed attempts in pole vault.
He did not shy away from offering up an explanation of what took place during the two-day competition.
“The decathlon started off not exactly as I wanted, but I was exactly where I needed to be the first day,” Warner said of being in fourth-place after the first five events. “I was motivated to fight to the finish.”
“I came out the second day, had a strong hurdles race, threw well in the discus, had a solid warm up for the pole vault but then I just couldn’t quite figure it out in the competition and unfortunately my worst nightmare came true and I had to drop out of the competition because I wasn’t able to clear that bar.”
Becoming emotional, Warner expressed his deep disappointment. “I wanted to stand on top of the podium again for Canada but unfortunately I just wasn’t able to do that.”
When asked who decided on the pole vault height at which he would begin, Warner responded: “4.60 is a typical height that I would come in at. I had a pretty solid warm up so I was pretty confident that I was gonna clear that height. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so confident, actually.”
Some natural elements at the Stade de France affected the 34-year-old’s pole vault approach.
“The wind kind of changed a decent amount from the time that I took my last warm up jump to the time that I took my first attempt. It was about 45 to 50 minutes and the wind changed quite a bit. But I was just on the wrong pole and a whole bunch of other variables came into play and I wasn’t able to clear the height.”
Warner, forlornly reflected on that shocking moment, pondering whether he should have started at a lower height. “It’s always so easy to look back in hindsight to be like, maybe we could have came in a little bit earlier.”
After a moment’s reflection, the four-time Olympian altered that sentiment and said, “[…] at the same time, we’re here to try to win a gold medal and there’s no room to play it safe and, yeah, the decathlon can be quite brutal sometimes.”
A decathlete is not obligated to exit a competition if they don’t score any points in a particular event. Asked why he did so yesterday, the eight-time champion of the famed Götzis Meeting responded:
“I decided to drop out because this, may sound crazy, but that’s the most painful thing to do. I pride myself on finishing decathlons, but at the same time, I pride myself on being consistent. So when I drop out of a competition after a mishap like pole vault, it’s tough and it’s really hard on me. But that gives me the best opportunity to grow because I don’t want that feeling to happen again.”
Warner is determined to compete in his beloved decathlon on the world stage again.
“My plan was to come to these Olympics and then after that, take it year by year,” he said. “As I sit here, I know that I want to compete at the world championships next year in Tokyo but after that, it’s just gonna go year by year.
“I still love the decathlon. I feel like I still have so much to improve on in the sport. I plan on doing the sport until that goes away. I hope it’s not anytime soon.”
On the brink of tears, Warner fondly reflected on the far-reaching impact his athletic accomplishments have had on young athletes.
“After the decathlon was finished [on Saturday], people were coming up to me and little kids that are 13, 14 years old that started the decathlon from Germany and they’re like, ‘you’re my idol, you know, like, I got involved in the decathlon because of you’.”
Warner, clearly proud to be an ambassador of sport, appears to be bolstered by the fact he has made a positive impact, in spite of his Paris 2024 result.
“It’s a really special thing to know that I’ve kind of left a really good mark on this sport and I hope to continue to do so and continue to lead by example.”
Prompted by a reporter’s question, Warner shared a heart-warming moment he had, following yesterday’s disappointing competition, with his three-year-old son Theo, who is back home in London, Ontario.
“He says, ‘Dad, I’m so sorry, but we’re making a cheesecake and you’re not’, so awesome,” Warner responded with a warm smile, understanding what is his most important role in life. “Perfect.”