Pierce LePage wins decathlon silver with 8,701 points
Canada finishes the 2022 World Championships with a medal count of four: one gold, two silvers and a bronze
Photo by:
Claus Andersen
In a wild men’s decathlon, Canada’s Pierce LePage secured his first world championship medal on Sunday, winning silver with a personal best score of 8,701 points. LePage had two personal bests on Day 2 in the 110m hurdles and discus throw to launch him onto the world championship podium.
LePage sat in second place at the end of Day 1 (after five events), moving up due to Damian Warner’s hamstring injury in the 400m. The 26-year-old moved into first position with two events to come–the javelin and the 1,500m.
Although, LePage threw for a season’s best 57.52m in the javelin, Kevin Mayer of France had the top mark of 70.31m to score 894 points and take the lead before the final event.
Mayer had more than a 100-point gap on LePage heading into the 1,500m. The gap ended up being too big to close, with LePage settling for silver ahead of Zachery Ziemek of Team USA with bronze.
“I was scared before the start of the 1,500m,” says LePage. “Not only because a medal was at stake, but also because I have only done five 1,500m workouts this season.”
His strategy going into the 1,500m was to sit on Ziemek, who sat in third before the race, making sure he outkicked him.
LePage had season’s bests in the long jump, high jump and 1,500m, and also had PBs in the 400m (46.84), 110mH (13.78) and discus throw (53.26m).
Mayer, the decathlon world record holder, returned to the top of the podium after battling injuries at the 2019 World Championships in Doha. With this gold, Mayer becomes only the fifth decathlete to win multiple world championship golds.
Canada finishes the 2022 World Championships with a medal count of four: one gold, two silvers and a bronze–one shy of their medal count in Doha.
The 2022 World Athletics Championships are taking place from July 15-25 from Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. All the action will be brought to you by Canadian Running and Asics Canada. Follow us on Twitter on Instagram for all things Team Canada and up-to-date exclusive news and content.
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