Latest news with #decathlon
France 24
6 days ago
- Sport
- France 24
Decathlon world record holder Kevin Mayer sits out 2025 season
The 33-year-old double world champion said that until two weeks ago he had still hoped to return for the world championships in Tokyo in September, but the "serious" injury had affected him "mentally and physically". "It's my first blank season, the first year that I won't be wearing the French team colours," Mayer told reporters in an online briefing. "I've had some really bad injuries in my career but this is the most serious so it's going to take more time. And I have no doubt that it will heal." Mayer, who also won Olympic silver medals at the 2016 and 2020 Games, said he was "playing his last hand" in choosing to halt his training for the 10-event decathlon to concentrate on specific strengthening exercises. The Frenchman, who set the world record of 9,126 points in 2018, has been dogged by injuries in the past two years. He was forced to drop out of the 2023 world championships in Budapest after feeling pain in his Achilles tendon after the 100m. Then his hopes of performing in front of a home crowd at the 2024 Paris Olympics were crushed when he injured his hamstring in a 110m hurdles race at the Paris Diamond League meeting just weeks before the Games. Mayer said he was still hopeful of competing at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. "We all have our cross to bear. Mine is my physical state. I know very well that if I sort out the problem, I can go on for a very, very long time," he said. © 2025 AFP
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Kevin Mayer, decathlon world record holder, to miss 2025 season
Decathlon world record holder Kevin Mayer will miss the entire 2025 track and field season due to a left thigh injury that also kept him out of a home Olympics in Paris in 2024. "I have regained all the range of motion necessary to compete at a high level," Mayer said, according to a translation of a France track and field federation press release. Advertisement The healing process caused his tendon to swell and fibrosis to develop where the sciatic nerve passes, causing irritation, according to the federation. He can play golf, basketball and beach volleyball, but he cannot fully train for the 10-event decathlon at high intensity. "I feel it when I'm sitting, but without pain," Mayer said. "It's almost a phantom injury, like a grain of sand. You don't always feel it, but it causes problems throughout the left posterior chain." Mayer, 33, set the world record decathlon score of 9,126 points in 2018. He also won Olympic silver medals in Rio and Tokyo, plus won world titles in 2017 and 2022. "I have no doubt that it will heal," he said. "It's the biggest injury of my career, but with the passion I have for athletics, it's only a matter of time. I don't know how long it will take, but I've never considered retiring. I have total confidence in what I do. My experience and my self-discipline are my best allies." Advertisement Norwegian Markus Rooth won the 2024 Olympic decathlon with 8,796 points, a national record. FloSports: FloTrack Ed Murphey Classic Quincy Wilson breaks U18 world record in 400m, takes momentum into USATF Outdoor Champs Quincy Wilson ranks No. 1 on the U18 all-time list and No. 2 on the U20 all-time list.
CBC
01-06-2025
- General
- CBC
Canada's Damian Warner falls short of Hypo Meeting decathlon title repeat, placing 6th
It was an uncharacteristic Hypo Meeting performance in the decathlon by eight-time defending champion Damian Warner, and unfortunate end to the weekend for Canadian teammate Piercy LePage, who won in 2023. Warner, who won last year and was eyeing a record-extending ninth title at the 50th edition of the event, finished sixth with 8,527 points in Götzis, Austria. He amassed 8,678 a year ago across 10 events over two days at Mösle Stadium. LePage, who didn't compete in Götzis in 2024 and at the Paris Olympics last summer with a back injury, exited Sunday's competition when he fell after hitting a hurdle knocked down by Switzerland's Simon Ehammer. Warner moved up one spot after finishing Saturday's five events in fifth, having compiled 4,424 points from the 100 metres, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400. The 35-year-old from London, Ont., sat fifth entering Sunday's 1,500 — the weekend's final event — 7,837 points, 287 behind eventual winner Sander Skotheim of Norway. Warner covered the 1,500 in four minutes 38.44 seconds, well off his 4:24.73 personal best. He opened Sunday in the 110m hurdles, placing second to Ehammer (13.57 seconds) with a season-best 13.76 in the fifth and final group. Warner holds the world-leading and meet record of 13.36. Triple-faulted in Olympic pole vault The four-time world championship medallist threw 47.34m in his first of three tries in discus for seventh before finishing 10th of 12 with a 4.70m effort in pole vault. He missed all three attempts at 4.80. Warner was fourth in Group A javelin, throwing 62.30m on his first try. He had his "worst nightmare come true" at last summer's Olympic Games in Paris, where he triple-faulted in the pole vault. LePage, who had surgery last August for a herniated disc, was 11th at the halfway mark, taking 4,315 points into Sunday's final five events. The 29-year-old from Whitby, Ont., bowed out of the competition after placing ninth of 15 in discus with a throw of 47.15. After falling in the hurdles, he was allowed a re-run and posted a time of 14.59 seconds. LePage ran 13.77 in the 2023 world decathlon in Budapest, Hungary. That was the most successful season of his career when he became the first Canadian to win a world title in decathlon. Also in 2023, LePage halted Warner's streak of seven consecutive Hypo Meeting titles for his first victory in international competition. The Hypo Meeting is the biggest multi-event competition in the world, outside of the Olympics and world championships. It's considered a measuring stick for decathletes as they prepare for the Sept. 13-21 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
CBC
31-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Canadian decathletes Warner, LePage sit 7th, 11th at midway point of Hypo Meeting
If the streak of Canadian title wins at the Hypo Meeting decathlon is going to continue, Canadians Damian Warner and Pierce LePage have their work cut out for them on Day 2 of the competition. Warner, of London, Ont., sits in seventh place while and LePage, of Whitby, Ont., is in 11th at the midway point of the event in Götzis, Austria. Warner is the defending champ and an eight-time Hypo Meeting winner. The 35-year-old compiled a total of 4424 points from five events on Saturday. He sits 228 points back of leader Ayden Owens Delerme (4652) of Puerto Rico. LePage, who won the event in 2023 but is coming off of off-season back surgery, has a total of 4315 points. The Hypo Meeting is the biggest multi-event competition in the world, outside of the Olympic Games and world championships. It's considered a measuring stick for decathletes as they prepare for the world championships later this summer in Tokyo. Saturday's meet kicked off with the 100-metre sprint where Warner had the second-fastest time out of all competitors, finishing in 10.39 seconds. That result garnered him 1,001 points. LePage was 19th overall in the 100 with a time of 10.70, for a total of 929 points in the opening event. The next event was the long jump, where Warner posted a best jump of 7.51m for 937 points while LePage's 7.42m effort got him 915 points. The third event was the shot put, where LePage was awarded 806 points for a throw of 15.26m. Warner's top throw of 14.41m netted him 753 points. LePage cleared 2.03m in the high jump to take 831 points, topping Warner's mark of 2.00m and 803 points. Saturday's final event was the 400m, where Warner (47.57) bested LePage (49.59) in their heat. Warned picked up 930 points while LePage took 834.
CBC
29-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Damian Warner, Pierce LePage face off in sneak preview of showdown at world championships
One of the most anticipated showdowns of this summer's World Athletics Championships will get a dress rehearsal of sorts this weekend. Decorated Canadian decathletes Damian Warner and Pierce LePage are in Götzis, Austria, for the annual Hypo Meeting combined events festival. This picturesque town nestled in the shadow of the Austrian Alps hosts the biggest multi-event competition in the world, outside of the Olympic Games and world championships. It's also one of only a handful of decathlons that Warner and LePage compete in every season. The scarcity of competition only multiplies the importance of the Hypo Meeting, especially considering how quickly both Canadians would like to put last season behind them. Warner, 35, had his "worst nightmare come true" at last summer's Olympic Games. The four-time world championship medallist and defending Olympic champion withdrew midway through competition in Paris after triple-faulting in the pole vault. "I've had some tough moments in my career, but [Paris 2024] probably ranks as one of the highest," Warner told CBC Sports in April. "You're never going to get those moments back. WATCH | #TheMoment Damian Warner broke down after pulling out of the Olympics: #TheMoment Damian Warner broke down after pulling out of the Olympics 10 months ago Duration 1:24 "But at the same time, there's a lot of things that you can learn from it and take away from it. So I want to kind of right the ship. I know that I'm better than that. And I've been trying to prove that in my training this year." LePage, 29, had the most successful season of his career in 2023, becoming the first Canadian to win a world title in decathlon. But his 2024 season was completely derailed by a back injury that caused him to miss that year's Hypo Meeting and the Paris Olympics. He's back in action after surgery in August to repair a herniated disc. "I'm the world champion. I want to defend my title," LePage said in an interview with The Canadian Press in October. "I'm sure Damian feels similar thoughts on not wanting to stop [in Paris]. "No one likes to not finish decathlon. That is definitely [the] drive to doing it again and kind of redeem ourselves, I suppose." Götzis offers a perfect setting for the Canadians to get off on the right foot as they make their way toward the world championships in Tokyo in September. They couldn't have picked a more familiar or comfortable place to start that journey. WATCH | Warner eyeing elusive world championship title in Tokyo: Damian Warner eyeing elusive world championships title in Tokyo 1 month ago Duration 5:58 Warner has won more decathlon titles in Götzis (eight) than any other person in the event's half-century history. "I've just had an amazing time every single time that I've gone [to Götzis], and it's one of those things where I'm going to do that event every single year that I can, for the rest of my career," Warner said. "It's the 50th anniversary, so I think it's going to be a really special one this year." Warner will be looking for his record-extending ninth title at the Hypo Meeting and enters as the reigning champion. Of course, that 2024 title was won without LePage in attendance. The Whitby, Ont., native halted Warner's streak of seven consecutive Hypo Meeting titles in 2023. That win in Götzis was the first international title of LePage's career and a sign of things to come, as he won world championship gold in Budapest a few months later. Warner – who is a four-time medallist at worlds but has yet to win gold – took silver in Budapest, as he did at that year's Hypo Meeting. Iron sharpens iron The decathlon is an individual competition, and the two men don't train together – but there's at least one way that LePage has helped Warner. He said LePage's rise from newcomer to world-class decathlete motivated the veteran to step his own game up. "I would say he's a different competitor than all the rest, because as a decathlete, you want to be the best in the world. be the best in the world, you have to be the best in your own country," Warner said. "For Pierce to come along at the time that he did, I think was really good for me. "As an athlete, you're like, 'OK, if I want to continue to be the best, then I'm going to have to try to find ways to get better. So he's one of those guys that pushed me in a different way than maybe some of the other competitors in the world." WATCH | Warner builds the ultimate Canadian decathlete: Olympic champion Damian Warner builds the ultimate decathlete 1 month ago Duration 4:37 Damian Warner selects his all-time list of past and present Canadian track and field stars to build the ultimate decathlete. As for those other competitors, few come as tough as Germany's Leo Neugebauer. The 24-year-old Olympic silver medallist is making his Hypo Meeting debut and should provide a stiff challenge for both Warner and LePage. The event begins on Saturday with the 100 metres, long jump, shot put, high jump, and 400m. Sunday will see the athletes compete in the 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and finish with the 1,500m.
