At 36, 2020 Olympic decathlon champion Damian Warner eyes Commonwealth Games as next step toward L.A. 2028

Each time Canada’s Damian Warner takes to the track and field for competition, he’s rewriting what longevity in his sport looks like, pushing his physicality to the limits.

At 36 years old, Warner is doing what nobody has ever done in the decathlon — competing at the highest level of the 10-event competition this late in life. 

He was the oldest Olympic champion ever when he won gold five years ago in Tokyo at 31 years and 274 days old. Warner set an Olympic record on that historic day in Tokyo in August 2021, amassing an astonishing 9,018 points. 

And he's still at it. 

There’s a reason nobody other than Warner has made it this far — five events one day, five events the next day. It grinds down athletes, ends careers early, oftentimes leads to injury, or just simply becomes too mentally taxing for athletes to want to go on. 

But for nearly two decades Warner has shown up each day with a burning desire to get better, to test the limits of what his body is capable of doing, all in the search of one day completing the perfect decathlon. 

Damian Warner on life, health, and the pursuit of the perfect decathlon

Nobody would question Warner if he were to shut it all down right now. He’s a father of two young children. He’s won countless international medals. And the decathlon requires all of an athlete’s attention. 

He also suffered an Achilles injury ahead of the world championship in Tokyo last September. It was the first time in his career he wasn’t able to get to the start line for a competition he intended to participate in.

Injury forces 2021 Olympic champ Damian Warner to withdraw from decathlon at World Athletics Championships

It would have been a logical time to call it quits. Instead, Warner has locked in perhaps