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'Awful to see': World champion in horror mishap at Tokyo Olympics

Thomas Van der Plaetsen, pictured here in agony during the long jump event in the decathlon.
Thomas Van der Plaetsen went down in agony during the long jump event in the decathlon. Image: Getty

Thomas Van der Plaetsen had to be taken from the arena in a wheelchair after a scary mishap in the decathlon at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday.

The Belgian world champion was competing in the long jump event in Tokyo when things went horribly wrong.

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Coming in for his jump, Van der Plaetsen appeared to suffer a leg injury in his final stride.

He grimaced in pain and pulled out of the jump in mid-air, landing face-first in the sand.

The Belgian remained face-down for a number of seconds, sparking concerns from officials and medical staff.

He managed to move himself soon after, but had to be taken away in a wheelchair.

Fans and commentators were stunned by the confronting scenes.

"It didn’t look good. He aborted the first take-off, walked rather gingerly back feeling the back of his hamstring and then went again," Eurosport commentator Martin Gillingham said.

Thomas Van Der Plaetsen, pictured here being taken from the stadium in a wheelchair.
Thomas Van Der Plaetsen was taken from the stadium in a wheelchair. (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)

Van der Plaetsen had been in fourth place after the opening event, the 100m.

After the long jump, the decathletes compete in shot put, high jump and the 400m.

They will then complete the 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1500m on Thursday.

Aussie Ash Moloney flies through 100m in decathlon

Earlier, Australian Ash Moloney made a flying start to the decathlon.

The 21-year-old set a personal best of 10.34 seconds in the opening 100m and backed it up with a solid 7.64m in the long jump.

The 2018 world junior champion was in second spot overall on 1983 points after two of the 10 events, behind runaway leader Damian Warner from Canada (2189).

Warner equalled his own decathlon 100m record of 10.12 to throw down the gauntlet to his opponents.

The Canadian also dominated the long jump with 8.24m.

Australian Cedric Dubler was in 12th spot, having battled a hamstring injury in the lead-up to the Games.

Watch 'Mind Games', the new series from Yahoo Sport Australia exploring the often brutal mental toil elite athletes go through in pursuit of greatness:

with agencies

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