Roundup: Canada sets medal record as athletics breaks through at Pan Am Games

Canada set a new national record with 69 gold medals at Toronto 2015 Pan American Games while Damian Warner shattered one of track and field's oldest records on Thursday.

The 25-year-old Warner from London, Ontario, won the decathlon in the 13th day of competition, in the process breaking Michael Smith's 19-year-old Canadian record. Warner scored 8,659 points. Smith's mark was 8,626.

Earlier, water-skier Whitney McClintock took first place in the women's slalom event -- her second top finish of these Games -- to give Canada 65 gold medals in total up to that point. The previous record of 64 was set in Winnipeg in 1999.

So far this year Canada has 69 golds and 187 overall medals. The United States is leading the medal count with 83 golds and 224 in total. Brazil is third with 34 golds and 121 in total, followed by Cuba, Colombia, Mexico and Argentina.

Also on Thursday, Ian Millar, a 68-year-old Canadian competing in his 10th consecutive Pan Am Games, led his country to a gold medal in team equestrian to give Canada an automatic berth in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

"We wanted this so badly for our team and our country," said Millar, who has also competed in a record 10 Summer Olympics. "It's not necessarily the same team that will go to Rio next year, although I have a suspicion it might just be."

Midway through the athletics competition, Canada has won 15 medals including eight golds and surpassed their haul from each Pan Am Games since 1999.

As of Thursday's end, there are 19 finals to go in Toronto. The host nation also earned 15 track and field medals in 1999 in Winnipeg.

"It's just a high that everyone gets on," said Melissa Bishop, who won gold in the women's 800-meter race Wednesday night. "It's a train ride, right - everyone gets on board, and they all want to get a piece."

"We want to be excellent," said Alex Genest, the silver medalist in men's steeplechase, who finished behind Canadian teammate Matt Hughes. "We don't just want to compete, but we want to be excellent."

Location helps: "If the Pan Am Games would have been in Chile, I don't think many people would have gone," Genest said.

Multiple athletes - and head athletics coach Peter Eriksson, who has overseen Canada's Olympic program since 2013 - pointed to a fundamental change in attitude from Athletics Canada. They say the organization is committed to winning at major events; they are not merely content to be there.

Genest said the mentality swung after the 2011 world championships in Daegu, South Korea, where Canada won only one medal. At the next worlds, two years later in Moscow, they nabbed five.

"It's refreshing. I've been part of this shift and I love it," he said. "It's great seeing people come into major Games and just wanting to do well and compete well. But we're enjoying ourselves as much as we were, and even more, because now we have success."

The most tangible demarcation point may be the arrival of Eriksson - a long-time coach in Canada and the United Kingdom - two summers ago.

There is still room to improve, Eriksson said, but there is also valid hope for better results down the line, starting at next month's world championships in Beijing.

For now, significant hardware remains up for grabs in Toronto - and for all the reasons Canada has thrived so far, their results to date may be yet another indicator of what is to come.

The Pan Am Games will draw to a close on Sunday night, followed by the Parapan Am Games on August 7-15. Endi