Damian Warner came to the Rio Olympics for gold.
But in the moments after the 26-year-old from London, Ont., had powered through 1,500 metres -- the final event of the gruelling decathlon -- to clinch third place, he smiled and said bronze wasn't so bad.
"There's only three guys in the world who get to stand on top of that decathlon podium, and I'm one of those guys," Warner said.
Warner finished with 8,666 points, matching Dave Steen from the 1988 Seoul Games for the best-ever Canadian finish in decathlon.
American Ashton Eaton, the defending champion and world record-holder, won gold with 8,893 points while France's Kevin Mayer took silver with 8,834 points.
"I'm tired right now, but I'm very happy I was able to pull it out," Warner said. "I had pretty strong goals coming into these Olympics, and I wanted to challenge for that gold spot, but there's many ups and downs within a decathlon, and I'm proud of myself and the work that my coaches have put in.
"It's going to be awesome to stand on top of that podium and just kind of share this medal with them."
Warner, who grew up dreaming of one day playing in the NBA, went into the London Olympics with a double-digit world ranking, but wound up finishing a surprise fifth.
He's risen up the world rankings ever since, winning bronze at the 2013 world championships and then silver at last summer's world championships in Beijing as part of Canada's historic eight-medal performance.
"I think ultimately every single decathlon I do is a learning experience," Warner said. "I thought I had what it took to break the Canadian record five years ago, and I didn't learn that until last year. I thought I had what it takes to get a gold medal, but I didn't learn that until now.
"So just got to keep working and challenge myself and get ready for 2020."
The decathlon is known as the ultimate all-around test, 10 events spanning the range of track and field disciplines spanning two long days. The winner is touted as "the world's greatest athlete."
Warner sat in third place after a rocky Day 1 that included a solid 100 metres and high jump. But he struggled in the shot put and 400 metres.
He opened Day 2 with a solid 110-metre hurdles race, finishing first in 13.58 seconds.
The bronze was clinched on the javelin. After two poor throws threatened to drop him into fourth place, Warner came up big with a toss of 63.19 metres.
"That was the difference maker in this decathlon," he said.
Afterwards, Warner stood on the track, the Canadian flag draped around his muscular shoulders, and smiled at the some dozen family members and friends, including his mom Brenda Gillan and his girlfriend Jenn Cotten, a 400-metre hurdler -- Team Warner.
"I saw them, but there was a barrier so I couldn't quite get to them," Warner said. "All my family are there. It's kind of like a little tease. I got to see my mom, but I had to jump up and climb over some things."
Eaton's Canadian wife Brianne Theisen-Eaton won bronze in the heptathlon Saturday, for Canada's first track and field medal of the Games.
Four years after Derek Drouin won Canada's only track and field medal in London -- a bronze in high jump -- and with two days of competition to go, the team has five in Rio.
Drouin won gold in Rio, while Andre De Grasse raced to silver in the 200 metres and bronze in the 100 metres.
