Canadian Damian Warner leads decathlon after 3 events at World Athletics Championships-صحيفة الصوت

Canadian Damian Warner continues to lead the decathlon after three events while Pierce LePage has dropped from second to fourth — the 100 metres, long jump and shot put have been completed at the World Athletics Championships.

Warner’s combined score of 2,846 is 90 points clear of second-place American Zach Ziemeck, who has 2,756 points.

LePage’s combined score is 2,725, just three points behind third-place Ayden Owens-Delerme of Puerto Rico. 

Warner, the reigning Olympic champion, started his pursuit of his first world decathlon title by posting the fastest time in the 100m — exactly how he started in Tokyo one year ago. 

WATCH | Damian Warner remains on top after shot put:

Warner is the oldest competitor in the world championship field — that was also the case when he made history at the Olympics last summer. 

Pierce LePage, who finished fifth at the Tokyo Olympics, ran the second-fastest 100m in a time of 10.39. The 26-year-old from Whitby, Ont., also finished fifth at the last world championships in Doha.

WATCH | Damian Warner, Pierce LePage finish 1-2 in 100m:

Warner made history last summer in Tokyo, becoming just the fourth person in history to post a score of more than 9,000 points when he set an Olympic record to claim gold. In March, he followed that up with a world indoor heptathlon gold medal.

Warner, however, has never won a world championship decathlon gold, finishing third twice and second once. The motivation for Warner now is not only winning gold in Eugene, but breaking Kevin Mayer’s world-record score of 9,126 in the process.

WATCH | What motivates Damian Warner?

Mayer, from France, earned 947 to begin by running the 100m in a time of 10.62. 

About 15 minutes after competing in the 100m, Warner and LePage were back in action in the long jump event.

Warner posts top jump

Warner is ranked No. 1 in the world in the event, and in his first attempt, he jumped 7.55 metres. That was well below his season-best performance of 8.05m. 

He improved in his second attempt, clearing 7.87m and padding his lead at the top. That was the best jump of all competitors and earned Warner 1,027 points – his combined total through two events was 2,057. For comparison, his combined total through two events in Tokyo was 2,189.

LePage, who has a personal best distance of 7.80m, posted a result of 7.54m in Eugene. That was a season-best distance for LePage and gave him 945 points for a total of 1,946 through two events.

WATCH | Damian Warner finishes 1st in long jump:

Warner records season-best shot put throw

From there the competitors moved over to the shot put ring for the third event of the decathlon. 

The sun finally started breaking through the clouds in the early afternoon, heating things up at Hayward Field.

Warner fired a season-best throw on his second shot put attempt. 

The mark of 14.99m was enough for 789 points — Warner’s best throw in Tokyo travelled 14.80m.

Despite struggling on his first two attempts, LePage was able to find his form on his final shot put throw.

His first two throws were 14.26m and 14.29m. But needing a strong finish, LePage was able to throw his last attempt 14.83m for 779 points. 

You can watch all the action from the decathlon on CBCSports.ca and on CBC Gem. The high jump event begins at 7:10 p.m. ET, and day one of competition ends with the 400m at 9:55 p.m. ET.

Action from Day 2 of the event begins on Sunday at 12:35 p.m. ET with the 110m hurdles.

WATCH | What makes Damian Warner so good?

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.