A herniated disc suffered in April will prevent Canadian decathlete Pierce LePage from pursuing his first Olympic title next month in Paris.
“At the time, the prognosis was good and that I’d be ready for the Olympics,” he said in an Instagram video post Wednesday. “But I just happened to be one of those people who don’t naturally heal from a disc herniation.
“I’ve pushed through injuries before and I’ve competed [while injured] so until the last week or so I thought I was gonna be able to push through and be able to [go to Paris] but I can’t force my back to suddenly start working no matter how hard I try.”
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.
WATCH | LePage wins historic 2023 decathlon world title:
Pierce LePage of Whitby, Ont., becomes the first Canadian to win gold in the decathlon at the World Athletics Championships, while London, Ont., native Damian Warner captures silver.
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.
LePage would leave Budapest a little sore after twisting his right shoulder in long jump and having his knee buckle after clearing 1.99 metres in high jump later in the day. Then, he injured his hamstring before the following event the next day, the 110 hurdles.
All that eludes LePage, who collected 2018 Commonwealth Games silver and 2019 Pan Am bronze, is Olympic gold.
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.
The two-day decathlon at this year’s Summer Games begins Aug. 2.