Decathlon world champion LePage grateful for support after injury, confident in Warner's ability to repeat

Pierce LePage felt anxious hitting send on an Instagram post that told the world the very thing he spent months working so hard to avoid: that a serious back injury would keep the decathlete from competing in the Paris Olympics.

"It's really tough to see your dream kind of slip away from your hands, even though you're trying as hard as you can for that not to happen," LePage said in the video he posted on July 17. His mind wanted to be in Paris, LePage explained, but his body was saying no.

Sharing that video with the world meant accepting it was really happening, something LePage didn't want to do.

The 28-year-old from Whitby, Ont., was taken aback by what happened after he posted the video.

"When I put it out, I was super surprised by just the amount of support and love I got from everyone," LePage said in an interview with CBC Sports.

"It was super overwhelming and I'm not even sure if I've gotten to every message I've gotten, but it definitely makes me feel like I'm not going through this alone."

That's left reigning Olympic gold medallist Damian Warner, who is ranked second in the world behind LePage, as the front-runner heading into the Olympic decathlon, which begins Friday at 4:05 a.m. with the 100 metres. The decathlon wraps up with the final event, the 1,500 metres, on Saturday at 3:45 p.m.

You can watch Olympic coverage on CBC TV, CBC Gem, the CBC Olympics app and website.

LePage, the reigning world champion, suffered an L5-S1 disc herniation in April. Back then, the prognosis looked good that he would be ready for the Olympics. 

He has pushed and competed through injuries before, including a torn patellar tendon suffered in his left knee at the world championship in 2022.

But this injury was "a different