Decathlete Pierce LePage, the world champion, withdrew from the Olympics in Paris due to a back issue, meaning that Canada will be without one of its main medal contenders.
On Wednesday, LePage announced the news on his Instagram page. He stated that he would require back surgery due to a herniated disc that he suffered in April.
The Whitby, Ontario, native, 28, claimed that he and his team made an effort to prepare for the Olympics, and up until recently, he was still optimistic about his ability to compete.
LePage stated in a video, “I thought I was going to be able to push through to the very end, to the last week or so.” “But I can’t force my back to suddenly start working, no matter how hard I try.”
LePage said that when he tried out for meets, “there was no power.” Actually, not much was happening.”
He claimed that rather than run the danger of getting hurt again, he took the tough choice to leave.
“The last couple of months have been pretty draining, to say the least,” LePage stated. “It’s really tough to see your dream kind of slip away from your hands.”
LePage was selected for Canada’s Olympic track squad, but he was granted a medical exemption, so he was not allowed to participate in the trials held in Montreal last month.
With the second-highest decathlon score ever at the world championships, 8,909, he won the world title in Budapest, Hungary, the previous year.
Additionally, he placed second behind Frenchman Kevin Mayer at the Eugene, Oregon, 2022 world championship.
In Paris, LePage was anticipated to be a member of Damian Warner’s lethal one-two decathlon assault. LePage is ranked first in the world by World Athletics, while Warner, who placed second in Budapest, is ranked second.
Warner, the current Olympic champion, is travelling to Paris from London, Ontario.
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