Months after an Olympic performance for the ages, London native Damian Warner has been named Canada's athlete of the year.
Warner was named Wednesday as the winner of the 2021 Lou Marsh Award. The award recognizes Canada's top athlete each year. The 32-year-old won the gold medal in the decathlon at the Tokyo Olympics in record fashion, finishing with 9,018 points. He became only the fourth male decathlete to eclipse 9,000 points, and his total was the highest ever at the Olympics. His jump of 8.24 metres in the long jump also set Olympic decathlon record, as did his time of 13.46 seconds in the 110 metre hurdles.
The performance led Canadian Olympic officials to name the Montcalm Secondary School graduate the flag bearer for the closing ceremonies.
The other finalists for the award included London swimmer Maggie Mac Neil, who won three medals at the Tokyo Olympics, as well as Toronto Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid, sprinter Andre De Grasse, and soccer players Alphonso Davies and Stephanie Labbe.
After the announcement, Warner was congratulated by London Mayor Ed Holder on social media.
"Another well-deserved honour for #LdnOnt’s own Damian Warner," the mayor said in a tweet. "Congratulations on all of your accomplishments in 2021, and sincere thanks for representing our city with such class and professionalism on the world stage!"