Just months after shattering numerous records and taking gold at the Tokyo Olympics, a London decathlete is set to receive a national honour.
Damian Warner is being inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. He was one of only ten people announced as 2021 inductees on Wednesday night. Canada's Walk of Fame celebrates Canadian excellence and achievement. The latest additions bring the walk's total inductees since 1998 to 200.
Warner is receiving the honour for his contributions to sports and athletics. He is the top ranked decathlete in the world. In August, the Londoner won gold in the decathlon at the Tokyo Games, finishing with an Olympic record 9,018 points. It’s just the fourth time a decathlete has eclipsed 9,000 points. He also set records at the games for the decathlon 110-metre hurdles, 100 metre sprint and long jump. Warner previously won bronze at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
Other inductees being added this year include actors Keanu Reeves and Graham Greene, music legend Bruce Cockburn, wrestler Bret "The Hitman" Hart, singer-songwriter Jully Black, and retired Lieutenant-General Romeo Dallaire. Sir Frederick Banting, Charles Best, John Macleod, James Collip, the University of Toronto scientists who discovered insulin, are also being inducted. 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of their discovery.
The latest round of inductees will be formally honoured at the Annual Canada’s Walk of Fame Awards Gala at Toronto’s Beanfield Centre on December 4.
