Warner’s time will come

Great expectations may be the title of one of Charles Dickens’ greatest novels but the two words also sum up the dreams of a 23-year-old athlete in Canada and those around him.
As the situation stands today, Damian Warner, the son of a Barbadian father, Kevin Warner, and Canadian mother, Brenda Gillan, is Canada’s best hope for a gold medal in the decathlon, the most gruelling athletic competition at the 2016 or any Olympic Games.
“Warner has a chance to become nothing less than the greatest athlete in the world,” according to the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest daily paper, recently.
Ashton Eaton, the American who like Warner has his sights set on the Rio Games, singled out the Canadian-Bajan as one of the biggest obstacles he must overcome if he is to successfully defend the gold medal he won last year at the London Games.
As Eaton explained it, Warner’s potential as a decathlete was simply “off the charts”.
Eaton didn’t come to that conclusion lightly. He based it on Warner’s performance last year in London and in international competition since then.
At last year’s Games, Warner ended up in fifth place after being in third and in line for a bronze medal during the first eight of ten events in the competition.
Just as important is his worldwide ranking in the decathlon. He is considered an elite international performer, occupying the third spot, up from 21st in the past year on global charts.
“My time will come,” Warner told a reporter recently.
What he meant was he expects to win the 2016 decathlon and earn the title “the world’s greatest athlete,” a tradition dating back to the Stockholm Olympics in 1912 when Sweden’s King Gustav V told American Jim Thorpe: “You, sir, are the world’s greatest athlete,” after he had captured the contest.
Born and raised in Ontario, Warner came to the decathlon a few years ago. Indeed, the London contest was only his tenth but he was able to put in an outstanding performance, coming virtually from nowhere to rack up 8 442 points and narrowly miss a bronze medal.
The decathlon – a two-day competition with contestants vying in the 100 metres, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400 metres on the first day and the 110-metre hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and the 1500 metres on the second – dates back to the pentathlon in the ancient Greek games, around 700 BC.
A contestant’s performance is judged on a points system in each event and the eventual winner is determined not simply by speed or distance but by endurance and technique.
The current world record holder is Eaton; he scored 9 039 points at the United States Olympic trials last year just prior to the London Games. His total was 597 more points than Warner’s best score.
The Canadian record stands at 8 442, set 21 years ago by Michael Smith who once called the competition “vicious”.  Barbados’ best performance in the decathlon was recorded in 1997 by Victor Houston with 7 777 points.
Canadians fully expect Warner to set a new national record pretty soon.
His anchor has been his mother Gillan, who often worked two or three jobs in Ontario to support the family.
The decathlete’s father lives in Barbados and didn’t play a significant role in the athlete’s life, she said.
“That was all me,” she told the Toronto Star while reflecting on the heights her son has reached. “It was very hard for Damian.”
However, his father Kevin Warner keeps in touch with his son, attended the Olympics in London and saw him perform. His presence in England brought joy to the athlete’s heart, so much so that he considered it a highlight.
Others who have helped propel Damian to stardom are his coaches Gar Leyshon and Dennis Neilsen, who have been father figures in his everyday life.
“They believed in Damian and they got Damian to believe in himself,” said the decathlete’s mother.
“Damian has the perfect personality for this sport. He’s low-key and he’s never satisfied,” said Leyshon.
“He’ll blow everyone’s door off and he won’t pound his chest or make a scene. And if his ride doesn’t show up, he’ll walk home.”
To stay on top of his game, Warner spends 11 hours a day training, running, throwing and jumping at the Western University track, with his coaches a constant presence.
Whenever you see him there, Leyshon and Neilsen aren’t far away. Little wonder that the athlete’s mother gets teary-eyed whenever she thinks about the work Damian’s coaches put in. She quickly recalled how tears ran down Neilsen’s cheeks as he watched her son’s stunning performance from the stands at the Olympics.
“His strengths are his speed and pop,” observed Neilsen.
In a wide-ranging feature, the Toronto Star painted a glowing picture of the young man: “His body is rippled with muscles and scars from spike mishaps. Yet he moves [with] the grace of a ballet dancer.
“He radiates strength and calmness, control and confidence. His desire to compete is sincere. His work ethic is tireless.”