Decathlon world champion Pierce LePage won’t compete at Paris Olympics due to injury

A herniated disc suffered in April will prevent Canadian decathlete Pierce LePage from pursuing his first Olympic title next month in Paris.

After winning a gold medal last summer at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, the world’s top-ranked men’s decathlete competed at a pair of Toronto indoor events in February. 

On June 4, LePage ran the outdoor 400 metres at the Royal City Inferno Track and Field Festival in Guelph, Ont., and in the 100 earlier this month in Toronto, but his times in both events were significantly slower than his 2023 performances.

The native of Whitby, Ont., was granted a medical exemption from participating at the Canadian Olympic trials late last month in Montreal. 

LePage, 28, has overcome a number of injuries throughout his career, including a torn patellar tendon in his left knee while capturing silver at the 2022 world championships.

In May, LePage didn’t defend his Hypo Meeting title in Götzis, Austria, an event many elite decathletes attend annually.

He was fifth in the decathlon at his 2021 Olympic debut in Tokyo.

LePage and Damian Warner finished 1-2 at worlds last Aug. 26 when the former amassed an 8,909-point personal best to become the first Canadian to win a decathlon world title.

Warner of London, Ont., is the defending Olympic champion in the decathlon and will compete in Paris after capturing an historic eighth Hypo title in May. 

WATCH | LePage wins historic 2023 decathlon world title: