Warner seeks eighth win at the Hypo Meeting in Gotzis

Olympic champion Damian Warner from Canada will be looking to extend his record to eight wins at the Hypo Meeting in Gotzis in his tenth appearance at this meeting.

Warner won his first Hypo Meeting title in 2013 with 8307 points and six consecutive editions in 2016 (8523), 2017 (8591), 2018 (8795), 2019 (8711), 2021 (8995) and 2022 (8797). He set meeting records in the 100 metres with 10.12 in 2019 and in the 110 metres with 13.36 in 2021. He held the previous world all-time best in the long jump for a decathlon competition with 8.28m in 2021. Warner won the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo 2021 with a national record of 9018 points becoming the fourth decathlete in history to surpass the 9000 points barrier after world record holder Kevin Mayer, Roman Sebrle and Thomas Dvorak. The Canadian star is a three-time world medallist (silver in Beijing 2015 with 8695, bronze in Moscow 2013 with 8512 and Doha 2019 with 8529). 

Warner won the world indoor gold medal in the heptathlon in Belgrade 2022 setting the national record and the second best performance on the all-time list with 6489 points. The Canadian star will compete in his first decathlon competition since last July when he suffered from a harmstring strain during the 400 metres at the World Championships in Eugene. 

Warner ran 48.07 in the 400 metres and threw 47.56 in the discus throw in his two tests in Baton Rouge last April in the build-up to Gotzis. 

Warner and his coach Guy Leyshon think that the world record is within his reach. 

“I think that I have the right events to make a challenge at the world record. It does not mean it’s going to be easy or you can set a date and say it’s going to happen here. I just believe that if I am healthy and I get the right circumstances, I can be capable of putting up a score that high. I am chasing my first world gold medal in Budapest. It’s obviously something that I am trying to push myself for every day”, said Warner. 

Since last autumn he has been training with Nicholas Mechler, a 26-year-old Canadian decathlete, who will compete in Gotzis for the first time this weekend. Mechler holds a PB of 7722 points. 

Warner’s compatriot Pierce LePage will make his fourth appearance at the Hypo Meeting. LePage placed second behind Warner in Gotzis in 2021 with 8534 and won the world silver medal in Eugene with his lifetime best of 8701 points. He also won the Commonwealth silver medal in Gold Coast 2018 and finished fifth at both the 2019 World…