Canada's Damian Warner has some work to do if he wants to claim his second Olympic decathlon title in a row.
The London, Ont., native slipped into fourth place at the halfway mark after a disappointing shot put and scoring 2.02 metres on the high jump on Friday.
Warner was 13th in the shot put, allowing Germany's Leo Neugebauer to overtake him for first overall. The German was second in the shot put.
Warner did post a season's best time of 47.34 in the 400m to finish the first day of competition.
Neugebauer leads with 4,650 points. Ayden Owens-Delerme of Puerto Rico is second at 4,608, Norway's Sander Skotheim is third at 4,588 while Warner has 4,561.
The two-time reigning NCAA champion at the University of Texas, Neugebauer is considered one of Warner's main threats for the title after French world record holder Kevin Mayer dropped out with a hamstring injury on Thursday.
Warner was first in the 100 metres and fourth in the long jump.
Neugebauer has 2,876 points, while Warner has 2,798. The Canadian is behind his pace from Tokyo in 2021 when he won gold.
The decathlon continues Saturday at 4:05 a.m. ET / 1:05 a.m. PT with the 110-metre hurdles.
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