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Sat in a press room in Tokyo, Damian Warner talked about the feeling of “community” in his hometown of London, Ontario, and the warm, small town feel he gets from the midsize city where he still trains for the world’s toughest competitions.
When the 31-year-old returns to London with his decathlon gold medal in the coming days, he won’t be the only Olympic champion the city welcomes home.
London-born athletes won or were part of four of the six Canadian gold medals that competed in the Tokyo Games on the final weekend of competition.
It all started last week with the gold medal of swimmer Maggie Mac Neil in the 100 meter butterfly, and days later the championship run continued when rower Susanne Grainger took first place in the women’s eight team. Soccer players Jessie Fleming and Shelina Zadorsky added to London’s gold medal win on Friday when Canada beat Sweden in the women’s final.
“We have had a lot of success and there are a lot of great athletes in London who are at these games,” said Warner on Friday in a virtual phone call around 24 hours after his decathlon championship. “But (there are also) a lot of great young athletes who will be at future games and I’m sure to win medals for London and Canada.
“It’s just a great city and I like to call it my home.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic closed most training facilities last year, Warner was forced to do his reps in the less than ideal conditions of an old hockey arena in London.
There are times, he said, when he feels that the environment is not “conducive to high performance.” But he praised the Londoners for their support during this time.
“It turns out that’s how you can win gold medals,” said Warner. “It’s not necessarily the facilities, it’s the people and the mindset.”
“When we needed something, someone came up and helped us,” he added.
Andrew Craven, a former Mac Neil swim coach at the London Aquatics Club, said it was exciting to see so many high-level talent from London at the Tokyo Games, and not just in the pool.
He said appearances like those of Warner and Fleming – the 23-year-old scored Canada’s tie in the soccer final and added another on penalties on the way to victory – will help inspire a new generation of London athletes.
Craven said he saw this with swimming, adding that since Mac Neil’s gold medal – and subsequent silver and bronze medals in relay competitions – his colleagues have barely kept up with the number of requests from parents asking how their children join the club be able .
“Any Canadian city can call itself a hockey city, but (London) is really a top-class culture with soccer, athletics, rowing and swimming,” said Craven. “There is a great high-performance pedigree in the city in several sports.
“But we are also in a happy time with some great athletes approaching us and that can happen in any small, medium or large city in the country.”
Craven said Mac Neil trained with him in London last summer at one of the city’s two major Olympic swimming pools before joining the rest of her teammates in Toronto.
Mac Neil visited the club this week with medals in tow, Craven said. And he plans to have her back soon so she can showcase her trio of awards to some of the town’s younger swimmers.
While Warner wasn’t sure when he would fly back to London on Friday, he said he was looking forward to returning to the city and showing his gold medal to friends and family.
“They know how hard all these people worked and how dedicated they were to getting me to this point,” said Warner.
“It will be really special to go home and hug her and let her hold this medal and know that it is theirs as well as mine.”
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on August 6, 2021.
