Damian Warner still has room to grow after Olympic bronze in decathlon

RIO DE JANEIRO – Canada’s track and field resurgence continued Thursday night as Damian Warner claimed bronze in the decathlon. Warner’s podium finish, thanks to a 8,666-point performance, increased Canada’s medal count in athletics to four at the Olympics. Andre De Grasse’s silver in the 200 metres made it five, which is already the country’s best output since Berlin 1936, with three days left to add to that number.

And while the 26-year-old Warner has worked his way up from fifth at the London Games to bronze at the 2013 World Championships to silver at the most recent World Championships in Beijing and now another bronze in Rio there’s been one constant over the last four years: United States star Ashton Eaton remains the man to beat.

Eaton, married to Canadian heptathlon bronze medallist Brianne Theisen-Eaton, won gold in typically dominant fashion, posting field-best results in the long jump and the 400 metres for a total score of 8,893 pointsto add to his impressive medal haul that includes gold in London and at the last two World Championships. France’s Kevin Mayer took silver with 8,834 points.

Warner delivered the best times of the meet in the 100 metres and the 110-metre hurdles – the two decathlon disciplines he holds the all-time best times. Of course, Eaton finished second in both, diluting the impact of Warner’s advantage. A clutch 63.19-metre javelin throw on his third and final attempt put Warner in position to come away with a medal and he confirmed his place on the podium with a top-5 finish in the 1,500 metres with a time of 4:24.90.

"Going into these Olympics I told myself that I wanted the gold medal. Obviously you go in there and do everything you can," said Warner. "I think this is my second best score of all time so I’m pretty happy with that."

It was a disappointing showing in the shot put Wednesday morning that ultimately took Warner out of gold medal contention, placing 23rd in the field and making it all the more difficult make up the points necessary to knock off Eaton.

As Eaton’s friend and training partner, there’s no one less surprised than Warner to see Eaton repeat as Olympic champion, equal the Olympic record, and cement his legacy as the greatest decathlete ever. It also serves as his ultimate motivation.

"Ashton is a great competitor. I look forward to competing against him every single time," said Warner. "He won the gold medal, but for some reason in my mind going into the next decathlon I feel like I can beat him."

When Warner competed at the Olympics in London he was raw and inexperienced. The fifth-place finish came as a bit of a surprise. Here in Rio, his bronze was the floor for his personal expectations. Warner believes he still has room to grow in this sport and achieve the consistency required to be the best.

"Every single decathlon that I do is a learning experience. I thought I had what it takes to break the Canadian record five years ago. I didn’t [do] that until last year. I thought I had what it takes to get a gold medal," said Warner. "But I have to keep working and challenge myself and get ready for 2020.”

But considering where he was not too long ago, a medal in the competition that crowns the "world’s greatest athlete," is very much indicative of how far he and the Canadian athletics program have come in a short amount of time.

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Israel Fehr is a writer for Yahoo Canada Sports. Email him at israelfehr@yahoo.ca or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr