Damian Warner, Pierce LePage face off in sneak preview of showdown at world championships

Justin Piercy · CBC Sports

· Posted: May 29, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

One of the astir anticipated showdowns of this summer's World Athletics Championships will get a formal rehearsal of sorts this weekend.

Decorated Canadian decathletes Damian Warner and Pierce LePage are in Götzis, Austria, for the yearly Hypo Meeting combined events festival.

This picturesque municipality nestled successful the shadiness of the Austrian Alps hosts the biggest multi-event competition successful the world, extracurricular of the Olympic Games and satellite championships.

It's besides 1 of lone a fistful of decathlons that Warner and LePage compete successful each season. The scarcity of competition only multiplies the value of the Hypo Meeting, especially considering however rapidly some Canadians would similar to put past play down them.

Warner, 35, had his "worst nightmare travel true" astatine past summer's Olympic Games. The four-time satellite title medallist and defending Olympic champion withdrew midway done contention successful Paris aft triple-faulting successful the rod vault.

"I've had immoderate pugnacious moments successful my career, but [Paris 2024] astir apt ranks arsenic 1 of the highest," Warner told CBC Sports successful April. "You're ne'er going to get those moments back.

WATCH | #TheMoment Damian Warner broke down aft pulling retired of the Olympics: 

"But astatine the aforesaid time, there's a batch of things that you tin larn from it and instrumentality distant from it. So I privation to benignant of close the ship. I cognize that I'm amended than that. And I've been trying to beryllium that successful my grooming this year."

LePage, 29, had the astir palmy play of his vocation successful 2023, becoming the archetypal Canadian to triumph a satellite rubric successful decathlon. But his 2024 play was wholly derailed by a backmost wounded that caused him to miss that year's Hypo Meeting and the Paris Olympics.

He's backmost successful enactment aft country successful August to repair a herniated disc.

"I'm the satellite champion. I privation to support my title," LePage said in an interrogation with The Canadian Press successful October. "I'm definite Damian feels akin thoughts connected not wanting to halt [in Paris].

"No 1 likes to not decorativeness decathlon. That is decidedly [the] thrust to doing it again and benignant of redeem ourselves, I suppose."

Götzis offers a perfect setting for the Canadians to get disconnected connected the close ft arsenic they marque their mode toward the satellite championships successful Tokyo successful September. They couldn't person picked a much acquainted oregon comfy spot to commencement that journey.

WATCH | Warner eyeing elusive satellite championship title successful Tokyo: 

Warner has won more decathlon titles in Götzis (eight) than immoderate different idiosyncratic successful the event's half-century history.

"I've conscionable had an astonishing clip each azygous clip that I've gone [to Götzis], and it's 1 of those things wherever I'm going to bash that lawsuit each azygous twelvemonth that I can, for the remainder of my career," Warner said.

"It's the 50th anniversary, so I deliberation it's going to beryllium a truly peculiar 1 this year."

Warner will beryllium looking for his record-extending ninth rubric astatine the Hypo Meeting and enters arsenic the reigning champion.

Of course, that 2024 rubric was won without LePage successful attendance.

The Whitby, Ont., autochthonal halted Warner's streak of 7 consecutive Hypo Meeting titles successful 2023. That triumph in Götzis was the archetypal planetary rubric of LePage's career and a motion of things to come, arsenic helium won satellite title golden successful Budapest a fewer months later.

Warner – who is simply a four-time medallist astatine worlds but has yet to triumph golden – took metallic successful Budapest, arsenic helium did astatine that year's Hypo Meeting.

Iron sharpens iron

The decathlon is an idiosyncratic competition, and the 2 men don't bid unneurotic – but there's astatine slightest 1 mode that LePage has helped Warner. He said LePage's emergence from newcomer to world-class decathlete motivated the seasoned to measurement his ain crippled up.

"I would accidental he's a antithetic rival than each the rest, due to the fact that arsenic a decathlete, you privation to beryllium the champion successful the world. But...to beryllium the champion successful the world, you person to beryllium the champion successful your ain country," Warner said. "For Pierce to travel on astatine the clip that helium did, I deliberation was truly bully for me.

"As an athlete, you're like, 'OK, if I privation to proceed to beryllium the best, past I'm going to person to effort to find ways to get better. So he's 1 of those guys that pushed maine successful a antithetic mode than possibly immoderate of the different competitors successful the world."

WATCH | Warner builds the eventual Canadian decathlete: 

As for those different competitors, fewer travel arsenic pugnacious arsenic Germany's Leo Neugebauer. The 24-year-old Olympic metallic medallist is making his Hypo Meeting debut and should supply a stiff challenge for some Warner and LePage.

The lawsuit begins connected Saturday with the 100 metres, agelong jump, changeable put, precocious jump, and 400m. Sunday volition spot the athletes vie successful the 110m hurdles, discus, rod vault, javelin, and decorativeness with the 1,500m.