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Coertzen pulls plug on decathlon

Cape Town - South Africa's Willem Coertzen withdrew from the men’s decathlon at the Rio Olympics after completing only three events, explaining that his body was simply not allowing him to compete.

The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events.

In the 100m, Coertzen could only manage a time of 11.02.

In the long jump, he struggled to a distance 6.98m and then in the shot put he pushed out a season’s best of 14.00m as he placed 11th in the discipline. That was where it ended though.

At the time of his withdrawal, the 33-year-old was in 36th overall.

In explaining his decision, the national decathlon record holder simply said his body was not doing what he knew it was capable of.

"It just seems like my body is not holding up this year, disappointment is an utter understatement," he posted on social media.

"Sometimes one can't understand why! There’s so much work and sacrifices that has gone into this last 4 years and for it to end like this just doesn't make sense!

"Thanks everybody for all the support and messages, it meant a lot! Will keep my head up and move forward!! Where one journey ends another one begins."
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