Olympic champion Damian Warner withdraws from decathlon after pole vault disaster | CBC Sports

Damian Warner’s hopes of repeating as Olympic decathlon champion are over.

The 34-year-old from London, Ont., withdrew before the start of the javelin competition, the ninth of the 10 events, after he knocked the bar down on all three attempts in the pole vault to fall out of medal contention.

A statement from the Canadian Olympic Committee acknowledged Warner and his team were devastated.

Warner was sitting in second with 6,428 points, 72 behind Germany’s Leo Neugebauer, after seven events.

After missing on his vault attempts at 4.60 metres, he dropped to 17th with just the javelin and 1,500 metres to go.

WATCH | Breaking down Warner’s no-height in pole vault:

Warner was looking to defend his Olympic title from the Tokyo Games in 2021.

He had set an Olympic record with 9,018 points.

Warner was looking to join American Bob Mathias (1948, 1952), Great Britain’s Daley Thompson (1980, 1984) and American Ashton Eaton (2012, 2016) as the only two-time Olympic gold medallists in the men’s decathlon.

Norway’s Sander Skotheim also failed to register a successful vault after entering the event in third place.

Warner, who became the oldest Olympic decathlon gold medallist three years ago in Tokyo, climbed from fourth to first in the 110-metres hurdles to kick off day two, with a time of 13.62, while Neugebauer dropped to third, with only 25 points separating the top three.

WATCH | Warner’s no height in pole vault ends decathlon medal hopes:

Damian Warner’s no height in pole vault ends hopes for Olympic decathlon medal

Canadian Damian Warner’s hopes to repeat as Olympic decathlon champion are over after knocking the bar down on all three attempts at 4.60 metres in the pole vault to fall out of medal contention.

But the 24-year-old German reclaimed the lead with a throw of 53.33 metres in the discus, one of his strongest events, while Warner hurled it 48.68 metres.

Grenada’s Lindon Victor let fly a 53.91m toss, the best discus throw by a decathlete in Olympic history.

The field is missing France’s world record-holder Kevin Mayer and reigning world champion Pierce LePage, who both withdrew due to injuries.

WATCH | Warner claims victory in 110m hurdles:

Canada’s Damian Warner starts 2nd day of decathlon with victory in 110m hurdles

Reigning Olympic decathlon champion Damian Warner of London, Ont., finishes first in the men’s 110-hurdles with a time of 13.62.