Canadians on fire at the World Champs in Budapest as they rise to second in the medals table

When Pierce LePage and Damian Warner finished one-two in the decathlon on Saturday at the World Championships in Budapest it capped a great day for Canada.

The North American nation also struck gold in the mens 800m via Marco Arop whereas Sarah Mitton won womens shot put silver behind Chase Ealey of the United States. It means they sit second on the medals table going into the final day with four golds and six medals in total.

LePage, 27, scored a world-leading mark of 8909 at the end of his two-day competition as team-mate Warner scored 8804 while Lindon Victor made his first major podium with a Grenada record of 8756.

Over the gruelling 10-event programme there were some casualties with world record-holder Kevin Mayer of France withdrawing before the shot put, whereas Olympic bronze medallist Ashley Moloney of Australia dropped out after the shot and 2019 world champion Niklas Kaul pulled out toward the end of the first day.

LePage also suffered injuries with a shoulder twinge in the long jump and hamstring issue at the start of day two.

LePage did not win any of the 10 events but was rewarded for his consistency. In the 100m he clocked 10.45 as Warner led the way with 10.32.

The long jump saw LePage register 7.59m as Warner, the Olympic champion, maintained his lead with a 7.77m leap. Meanwhile Leo Neugebauer of Germany impressed with a 8.00m jump to move into second place.

Neugebauer enjoyed another PB in the shot as he threw 17.04m to move into pole position. LePage, meanwhile, threw 15.81m before moving closer to the lead with 2.08m in the high jump as Warner managed 2.5m and Neugebauer 2.02m.

The end of day one saw LePage clock 47.21 in the 400m compared to Warners 47.86, which saw LePage sitting second overnight being Neugebauer.

At the start of the second day Neugebauer endured a messy 110m hurdles race and clocked only 14.75 as LePage ran 13.77 to move into the overall lead. Warner, too, ran well with 13.67.

In the discus LePage threw 50.98m to consolidate his lead although the star in this event was Victor as he threw a decathlon championship best of 54.97m to move up to third in the overall positions.

The pole vault saw LePage clear a solid 5.20m and then 60.90m in the javelin as the title began to look his and, sure enough, he sealed victory with a 4:39.88 1500m.

Warner closed with a 4:27.73 time but it was not enough to overhaul his team-mate.