Warner and coaches believe world decathlon record within reach

MANCHESTER, England : Damian Warner has been on a relentless quest to be the best decathlete in history for more than a decade and his Olympic gold medal in Tokyo was just one goal ticked off along the way.

After a heartbreaking hamstring injury knocked him out of the world championships last July, the 33-year-old Canadian - who this weekend will look to extend his record of victories at Hypo-Meeting in Gotzis, Austria to seven - and coach Gar Leyshon believe the world record is well within reach. It might take a "perfect decathlon" to get it.

"A long time ago, we believed that we could be a decathlete that scores over 9000 points," Warner told Reuters. "And along the way, there's been a lot of people who have said, 'I'm not sure if that's going to be a possibility.' Thankfully, Gar and I were right on that standpoint."

In Tokyo, Warner became the fourth man in history to crack the 9,000-point barrier.

"And we believe that we have all the right events to make a challenge at the world record. It doesn't mean it's going to be easy or you can set a date and say it's going to happen here. We just believe that if I'm healthy and I get the right circumstances that I can be capable of putting up a score that high."

Leyshon and Dennis Nielsen were once Warner's high school English teachers before introducing him to track and field, and eventually the decathlon, learning the event by watching YouTube videos and attending clinics. Leyshon believed Warner could be the best virtually from day one.

"There was this unspoken thing we had," said Leyshon. "And over the years, I've seen nothing that makes me think otherwise.

"Then in 2018, our goals we talked about very clearly: Olympic gold. World champion. World record. So he's only achieved