Damian Warner’s quest for both a Canadian record and personal hat-trick of titles at the Hypo Meeting in Gotzis, Austria, is off to a great start.
Warner leads all competitors with 4532 points after five events, while fellow Canadian Pierce LePage is second with 4379.
Oleksiy Kasyanov of Ukraine is third with 4352 points.
Warner posted the fastest time in the 100-metre event with 10.35 seconds, with LePage the next fastest at 10.49.
Watch @DamianWarner & @Pierce_LePage go 1-2 in the 100-metres at #Gotzis#Hypomeetinghttps://t.co/Z1ShNp9dt6
The next event, the long jump, also saw Warner lead the way with a top jump of 7.85m. LePage was fourth in that event, with 7.64m.
Warner didn’t fare quiet as well in the shot put event as he finished at the bottom of his heat in 14th place with a distance of 14.09m. Lepage reached 13.26m and was ninth in his heat.
LePage and Warner competed in the same high jump heat. With a mark of 2.09m, LePage finished third and Warner placed sixth at 2.03m.
In the 400m, the fifth and final event for Saturday, Warner finished at the top of his heat with a time of 47.49 seconds. In the same group, LePage finished third at 48.99 seconds.
#Gotzis#HypoMeeting 400M: @DamianWarner wins Heat 5 in 47.49 & @Pierce_LePage 3rd in 48.99 pic.twitter.com/QMWSzA9rk6
Warner, a world silver and bronze medallist, won the prestigious event in both 2013 and last year.
He’s also a favourite to claim Canada’s first decathlon world title, particularly after the retirement of American Ashton Easton, who’s dominated the event for several years.
Warner’s Canadian record of 8,695 points was set at the 2015 world championships in Beijing.
The meet will be Warner’s only international decathlon before the world championships in London in August.
