Õiglane is also bearing in mind next month's Paris Olympics, and dropped out after one attempt in the high jump.

Õiglane had injured his knee during the long jump earlier on Monday.

"I decided to withdraw," Õiglane told ERR about his decision.

"As I said, I tried my best to give it a go in the high jump. I did one trial jump, thinking I would try to clear one height, and if it felt okay, I would skip two or three stages."

"After clearing that attempt, I came to the conclusion that it wasn't worth risking further injury. I actually feel fine, so it's sad to end the competition in this way. But I don't see the point in continuing if I lose 180 points from the one event; I wouldn't have won a medal anyway. I haven't been to the Olympics yet, but I definitely want to go, and I know I can be be ready by then," the athlete continued.

"My knee hurts right now; I've had similar issues before, so I need to be smart about the next two, three or four weeks," he added. "It's not very serious right now, but if I had continued jumping, it could have ended badly. Right now, though, it's still okay, and I definitely didn't incur any serious damage," he continued.

Õiglane managed to clear the initial height of 1.84 meters on his first attempt at the high jump but did not attempt any further jumps.

Õiglane has not been able to complete a decathlon under competitive conditions this year. "That does no create uncertainty in me; instead, it fuels my anger and determination. I want to show everyone that I've been working hard this year. I definitely don't feel uncertain," the athlete added.

The European Championships in Rome end tomorrow, Wednesday.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!