Ukraine's Oleksiy Kasyanov was forced out of the men's decathlon at the European championships on Thursday after the overnight leader picked up an injury and was unable to run the 110 metres hurdles.It was a heartbreaking outcome for the 24-year-old, who had a 20-point lead over Lithuania's Darius Draudvila after Wednesday's five events and was in a strong position to succeed injured world record holder Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic as champion.A spokesman for European athletics said it was not yet clear what injury Kasyanov, who narrowly missed out on a medal at the 2009 world championships in Berlin, had sustained.With the discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500 metres still to come, Draudvila had a 69-point advantage over Andrei Krauchanka of Belarus, with Frenchman Romain Barras 136 points off the lead in third.In the men's triple jump later on Thursday, Teddy Tamgho will be hoping to match or better his superb effort of 17.98 metres at a Diamond League meeting in June which gave the Frenchman victory over his main rival here, British world champion Phillips Idowu.The women's javelin title will also be decided on Thursday.Czech Barbora Spotakova, the Olympic champion and world record holder, leads the field, while Russia's Mariya Abakumova has the longest throw in the world this year at 68.89 metres.Christina Obergfoell of Germany and Slovenian Martina Ratej are also strong contenders.The medals in the men's high jump and the women's 100 metres are also up for grabs.Alena Neumiarzhytskava of Belarus, who turned 30 on the opening day of the championships, is the fastest European woman this year with a time of 11.05 seconds set in June to claim her national title.Britain's Laura Turner, coached by former Olympic champion Linford Christie, is close behind with 11.11.(Editing by John O'Brien; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)News posted by www.newsinfoline.com
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