Damian Warner's decathlon lead shortens after fading to 7th in the 400m

He has the fastest time in this field, about a half a second faster than Tajaswin Shankar who had that world class high jump to move into second place overall, just 39 points behind Warner. There's Lyndon Victor who plummeted from second to fifth after a 1.82 in the high jump. Devon talking about the cool, very cool and windy conditions here and how Damien's biceps seized up during the shot put. He's got to be very aware of staying warm and very flexible and hydrated going into this 400. Michael, as we recall back in 2022 at the Eugene World Championships with Damien Warner leading the decathlon, he pulled a hamstring in the opening hundred meters of that 400. Well, these are all the varying conditions that decathletes have to deal with over a couple of days is the weather. Here we see Lyndon Victor. He has a 47.76 personal best. He'll have to come close to that to make up those valuable points that he lost in high jump. Yeah. He's 212 points off the lead right now. The lead held by this man, Damien Warner of London, Ontario, with the best this year of 47.77. That puts Warner about a half a second faster on form than this man, the Indian high jumper to Tajaswin Shankar who is currently second, right on the heels of Warner in the overall standing. Joel McFarland of Scotland with a big cheer goes up for him. He's in lane number three and his teammate Callum Newby is in lane number two. More points on the line as these decathletes are awarded points based on their times, length or height of their jumps or their throws. Damien Warner, the leader after four events, Lyndon Victor, the other world-class decathlete in this field with a lot of youngsters and newbies like this man who's just four years into the sport and just over 8,000 points overall to Tajaswin Shankar in four. He'll have a good look ahead of the stagger, Damien Warner in five. Well, the two Scots on the inside lane will take advantage of this hometown crowd and I suspect Damien will use that encouragement as well. The gun and they're away in this second heat of the decathlon, 400 meters, the fifth and final event of day one and Warner has gone out very quickly now, tracking down Lyndon Victor ahead of him in the stagger, moving right up on his shoulder, 150 meters into this race. Warner looking very strong. The Indian to Tajaswin Shankar is another 10 meters back as Warner barrels through the bend. Well, good running for Damien. This is where your fitness comes into play, the last 100 meters. He looks to be tightening up ever so slightly, but Lyndon Victor is on his shoulder. The Scots on the inside are making a move with this cheering crowd and Damien is moving backwards. He's fading. Warner in trouble, fading well back. It's Callum Newby of Scotland first, his teammate McFarlane behind him and Damien Warner is second last here in the 400 tying up in the second half of this 400 as he went out very aggressively pulling up alongside Lyndon Victor of Grenada, but Warner talking earlier to Devon about being tight, looks like he's in some difficulty here, but really seizing up and going backwards as you say, Michael, down the final straight. Well, that is not the Damien Warner we have come to know 50.05 seconds. I have literally never seen Damien run over 50 seconds, so something going on. The first 300 meters were solid, but it's a combination of training perhaps and just these conditions. He was running strong through 300 meters leading the way, but then the Scots made some big inroads over that final 100 meters as did Lyndon Victor. You can see the Scotsman on the inside, and Damien is just tying up with 50 meters remaining, a lot of lactic acid accumulating over that final 50 meters and Damien 50.05 seconds. He has his work cut out for him tomorrow. He would have liked to finish with a strong 400 meters to finalize day one. He'll have to have a good rest, a big massage, get some nutrients and get set up for day number two. Well, how about Callum Newby stealing the show, stealing the thunder from the Olympic champion in this men's 400 decathlon heat number two as the Scots go one, two, a personal best for Newby at 48.59 and then a 49.30 clocking for McFarlane. But Warner well off form at 50.05 and he did look like he was tight. He was grimacing down the straight. His stride length shortened, but a costly final event of day one, but Warner remains in the overall standings in first place ahead of Shankar of India. Sammy Ball is in third, but just a 14 point lead for Warner.