On Wednesday, reigning world decathlon champion Pierce LePage announced that he will not compete at the Paris Olympics due to injury. LePage sustained a herniated disc in training in late April and hasn’t recovered in time to compete for Canada at the Paris Olympic Games.
LePage made the announcement on his Instagram: “I thought I was going to be fine. The last few months have been draining–it’s tough to see your dreams slip away from your hands. No matter what I did, it kept getting worse, and it got to a point where, you know, you can’t do it. We hit that point in the last week.”
Heading into the season, the 28-year-old from Whitby, Ont., was one of the favourites to reach the podium in the men’s decathlon event alongside fellow Canadian Damian Warner, but he suffered his training injury just weeks before the Gotzis Hypo-meeting in Austria, which caused him to withdraw.
“I’ve pushed through injury before, and until the last week or so, I thought I could,” said LePage. “I can’t force my back to start working, no matter how hard I try. There’s no point in going to the Olympics, only scoring 7,000 points and hurting myself.”
In June, LePage received a medical exemption from Athletics Canada to miss the Canadian Olympic Trials and still gain Team Canada selection. He tested his injury two weeks ago at a small track meet in Toronto, competing in the 100m and pole vault, and revealed his pole snapped during his warm-up, making things worse.
“The hardest thing about not going is knowing I let people down who have supported me,” said LePage. “Paris was the first time my family was going to come see me compete.”
LePage said he will undergo back surgery and these next three weeks will be instrumental in his recovery to defend his world championship title in Tokyo next year.
