<p>Kevin Mayer's bid to retain his world decathlon crown ended in tears on Thursday after the injured Frenchman limped out of the competition in the pole vault.</p>.<p>Mayer, who had only just taken the lead in the overall standings after the discus, saw his title defence go up in flames after failing to register a vault.</p>.<p>The 2017 champion twice aborted jumps on his approach, slumping to the mattress in tears after his second failed effort.</p>.<p>Mayer had been limping noticeably after the opening discipline of the night, the men's 110m hurdles, with a heavily strapped left ankle.</p>.<p>However, he stormed back to register a strong performance in the discus, topping the round with his second throw of 48.34m.</p>.<p>That saw him take the overall lead with 6,310 points, leading Damian Warner of Canada who could only manage a best throw of 42.19m to be on 6,254pts with the pole vault, javelin and 1,500m remaining.</p>
<p>Kevin Mayer's bid to retain his world decathlon crown ended in tears on Thursday after the injured Frenchman limped out of the competition in the pole vault.</p>.<p>Mayer, who had only just taken the lead in the overall standings after the discus, saw his title defence go up in flames after failing to register a vault.</p>.<p>The 2017 champion twice aborted jumps on his approach, slumping to the mattress in tears after his second failed effort.</p>.<p>Mayer had been limping noticeably after the opening discipline of the night, the men's 110m hurdles, with a heavily strapped left ankle.</p>.<p>However, he stormed back to register a strong performance in the discus, topping the round with his second throw of 48.34m.</p>.<p>That saw him take the overall lead with 6,310 points, leading Damian Warner of Canada who could only manage a best throw of 42.19m to be on 6,254pts with the pole vault, javelin and 1,500m remaining.</p>