By Canadian Press

Decathlete Warner wins the Canadian 110-hurdles title in pouring rain

Jun 26, 2021 | 12:20 PM

MONTREAL — Decathlon star Damian Warner won the 110-metre hurdles in pouring rain at the Canadian Olympic track and field trials on Saturday.

Warner,  who’s using the trials as finetuning for the Tokyo Olympics, won in 13.64 seconds in a torrential downpour in an empty Claude Robillard Sports Complex. Craig Thorne was second in 14.10, while decathlete Pierce LePage was third with 14.13.

Michelle Harrison won the women’s 100-metre hurdles in 12.98 seconds.

Aaron Brown won the men’s 200 metres in 20.24, while Crystal Emmanuel easily won the women’s 200 metres in 22.83. They both won the 100 titles a day earlier, and both have already qualified for Tokyo. 

Warner is the world No. 1-ranked decathlete this season after shattering his Canadian decathlon record at the Hypo-Meeting in Austria last month with the fourth-highest score in history. He set a decathlon world record for hurdles there with his time of 13.36.

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It was a remarkable performance considering Warner hadn’t competed in a decathlon since the 2019 world championships, and because of travel restrictions and facility closures due to COVID-19, the 29-year-old had been forced to train this past winter in an old, unheated hockey arena his hometown of London, Ont.

While the trials are fine-tuning for Warner, for others, they’re a last chance to hit qualifying standards in a season that has been full of roadblocks due to COVID-19.

Athletics Canada wasn’t sure it would be able to even host the trials, with the third wave of the pandemic raging in parts of Canada, but finally got the green light about three weeks ago.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2021.

The Canadian Press