Olympic decathlon champion Damian Warner was voted Canada’s best athlete of 2021 on Wednesday.
Warner, 32, collects the Lou Marsh Trophy after his record-setting performance at the Tokyo Games, where he led after all 10 events to become just the fourth person ever to break the vaunted 9,000-point mark.
The London, Ont., native was later named Canada’s flag-bearer for the closing ceremony.
The six other finalists for the award were sprinter Andre De Grasse, swimmer Maggie Mac Neil, soccer players Stephanie Labbé and Alphonso Davies, Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid and Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who was born in Montreal.
Media members from across Canada voted Wednesday on the annual Toronto Star award.
WATCH | Why Damian Warner was the perfect choice:
.jpg?crop=1.777xh:h;*,*&downsize=510px:*510w)
CBC Sports Scott Russell discusses the why Damian Warner is the perfect candidate as winner of this year’s Lou Marsh Award. 4:05
NFL player Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and Davies, a left back for Bayern Munich, were named co-winners of the award last year.
In recent weeks, some have called for the award to be renamed after Marsh’s history of racism and antisemitism while he was a reporter with the Star came to light.
Marsh opposed a Canadian boycott of the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany and used racist language to describe Indigenous runner Tom Longboat as well as Black, Chinese and Jewish athletes throughout his career.
The Star announced on Tuesday it was initiating a “comprehensive study” of Marsh’s career to determine whether the trophy should continue using his namesake moving forward. Results of the study, headed by Dr. Janice Forsyth, an associate professor of sociology at Western University, are expected to be released next year.
WATCH | Warner takes gold in Olympic decathlon:
Warner stepped to the top of the podium on Friday to receive his gold medal from the decathlon. 6:00
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
