Johannes Erm in Paris Olympics decathlon fifth place at halfway stage

Estonia's three decathletes were in action in day one of that discipline in Paris on Friday, with European champion Johannes Erm's 4,510 points keeping him in medals contention in a field heavily stocked with potential winners.

Erm lies in fifth place at the halfway stage.

Both Karel Tilga and Janek Õiglane meanwhile both have amassed 4,225 points so far and tie for 15th place overall.

Erm set a new high jump PB (2.08 meters) and lies 31 points behind current leader and favorite for the gold, Leo Neugebauer of Germany.

Erm became European champion in June, amassing 8,764 points.

Reigning Olympic champion Damian Warner (Canada), Puerto Rican multi-event athlete Ayden Owens-Delerme, Lindon Victor (Grenada), Sander Skotheim (Norway) and 2019 world champion Niklas Kaul (Germany) are among the main remaining favorites.

World champion Pierce LePage (Canada) has had to miss the Paris Olympics due to injury, while it was also revealed on Thursday that world record holder Kevin Mayer would not compete at his home games.

The start of Erm's decathlon was less than ideal. He jumped 25 centimeters short of his long jump PB and also lost points in the shot put.

The high jump PB put him back in medal contention.

Janek Õiglane matched his 100-meter PB and set a new on in the 400 meters, improving on his previous best by 0.39 seconds.

Karel Tilga gained points in the shot put but is still about 200 points behind his PB pace after day one.

Friday's five events were:

100 meter sprint

Erm's 10.64 was slightly slower than his European Championships time; Õiglane equaled his PB (10.89), while Tilga finished in 11.01.

Long jump

Erm jumped 7.66 meters (PB 7.91),

Õiglane put in a solid 7.25 meters on his second attempt and opted not to make a third attempt.

Tilga's medal hopes likely ended here as his best jump was 7.16 meters, significantly below his 7.58 meters set at the world championships in Budapest lat year.

Norway's Skotheim exceeded eight meters for the first time with 8.03.

Shot put

Tilga was the only Estonian to earn points above his record pace, throwing 15.88 meters on his third attempt, 13 centimeters more than his decathlon in Budapest.

Erm threw 14.61 meters, falling short of his 15.38 meters record, and

Õiglane's 14.58 meters was half a meter less than his record. French athlete Makenson Gletty delighted the home crowd by winning the event with 16.64 meters, while Neugebauer threw 16.55,

High jump

Erm put in another excellent performance, improving his PB by four centimeters to 2.08 meters, bringing him back into medal contention.

Both Janek Õiglane and Karel Tilga cleared 1.99 meters, with Tilga losing significant points compared to his record.

Heath Baldwin (U.S.) won the event with 2.17 meters,

400 meters

For the second consecutive event, Estonian decathletes set PBs as Õiglane ran the stadium lap in 48.02 seconds, improving his best by 0.39 seconds.

Erm clocked 47.19, losing 19 points compared to his record pace, and Tilga finished strongly with 48.67.

Skotheim, Victor, and even Warner all set PBs.

The level of competition in Paris remains predictably high: gold medal favorite Leo Neugebauer is on track for 8,930 points, while reigning Olympic champion Damian Warner is on pace for 8,850 points. Besides Erm, other athletes surpassing the 8,700-point mark after five events include Victor, Markus Rooth (Norway) and Owens-Delerme.

Neugebauer leads with 4,650 points after day one.

The second and final day starts at 11.05 a.m. Estonian time, with the 110-meter hurdles, and culminates with the 1,500 meters at 10.45 p.m.

Between those two events comes the discus (Group A at 11.55 a.m., Group B starting 1.05 p.m.), the pole vault (2.40 p.m.) and the javelin (Group A starting at 8.10 p.m., Group B an hour later).

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