Warner became the fourth man in history to break the 9,000-point barrier in decathlon and set a new Olympic and national record with a score of 9,018.

He defeated Frenchman and world record holder Kevin Mayer for the gold, with his opponent doing well to return to the sport after injury.

Mayer's record is 9,126, with only American Ashton Eaton and Czech Republic's Roman Sebrle also breaking the 9,000 barrier.

Warner's Olympic gold was Canada's first in decathlon.

Media from across the country were eligible to vote on the annual award given out by the Toronto Star.

He faced men's 200 metres Olympic champion Andre de Grasse, Toronto Blue Jays baseball player Vladimir Guerrero Jr, Edmonton Oilers ice hockey forward Connor McDavid, swimmer Maggie Mac Neil, and footballers Alphonso Davies and Stephanie Labbé for the prize.

The seven were whittled down from a list of 24 athletes initially nominated.

During his decathlon, Warner equalled the men's 100m world decathlon best in 10.12sec and set new Olympic decathlon bests in the long jump with an effort of 8.24 metres and the men's 110m hurdles in 13.46.

He also equalled his personal best in the pole vault with 4.90 metres.

Following his dominant win, he was chosen as the Canadian Flagbearer for the Closing Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.