IAAF World Championships: Pierce Lepage wins silver in decathlon

Eugene, Raw. Kennedy took a medal in the decathlon at the World Championships in Athletics – but he wasn’t defending champion Damien Warner.

Ontarian Pierce Lepage won the silver on Sunday with a personal best of 8,701 points.

LePage has come close to stepping onto the podium several times in his career. He finished fifth at the Tokyo Games as well as at the 2019 World Championships in Doha. Not this time.

“What has been difficult for me is that I have been so close for the past few years,” LePage said. I was always at the top of the rankings, but then I fell back in the end and it was always very frustrating. To finally be on top… Staying on the podium is exceptional. »

Frenchman Kevin Mayer (8,816 points) won the competition and was crowned world champion again. Silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics last summer, the Frenchman started his second day of activities in fourth place.

LePage, who was in second place before the final event – 1500 meters – was able to defend his position. He beat American Zachary Zemek (8676 points), by 25 points.

“I had to choose whether to try to beat Kevin (Meyer for the gold) or if I stayed more conservative and got a medal,” LePage admitted.

The 26-year-old took Canada’s fourth and final medal at the 2022 World Championships in Athletics in Eugene.

Warner, the favorite to compete, was forced to retire on Saturday due to an injury during the 400 metres. At the time of his retirement, the Canadian took first place in the competition.

Mohamed Ahmed wears his hair at the finish line

Just a few meters from the finish line and the bronze medal, Canadian Mohamed Ahmed couldn’t keep up with the race and finished fifth in the 5,000m.

Norway’s Jakob Ingerbrigtsen was crowned world champion with a time of 13 minutes 9.24 seconds.

He was followed by Kenyan Jacob Krupp and Ugandan Oscar Chelimo, respectively.

Ahmed, the vice-champion of the Tokyo Olympics, finished with a time of 13:10.46. He was 26 hundredths behind Chelimo and one place on the podium.

The Canadian finished sixth earlier at the 10,000m World Championships in Athletics.