Great Britain's Daniel Awde celebrates winning his heat of the decathlon's 100m this morning, before he was forced to pull out due to injury. Photo: Martin Rickett/PA Wire

The 24-year-old is now contemplating his next move in athletics.

There was heartache for Woodford Green resident Daniel Awde as the decathlete was forced to withdraw from his home Olympics after just two events yesterday (Wednesday).

The 24-year-old, competing in his second Games, was hoping for a top-10 position and a personal best points tally in the decathlon, but was left with no option but to pull out of the event with patella tendinitis.

Awde revealed it has been a persistent injury that he had been suffering with for the last two years, and the Woodford Green Athletics lubC with Essex Ladies athlete was obviously devastated.

“I’ve had a flare up of patella tendinitis and if I continued it would probably rupture,” he said.

“It’s been a real rollercoaster, and we have tried to find solutions to it. It works for about a week, then we find another solution and that works for about a week.

“If you spoke to me at the start of the year I wouldn’t have expected to be here in the first place, it’s been a real bane of my life for the last two years.”

Awde had started the gruelling two-day 10-discipline event in fine fashion, roared on by the home crowd.

He achieved a new personal best of 10.71 seconds in the 100m to win his heat and was in seventh place.

After opening the long jump with a red flag in his first leap, he then appeared to grimace after his second attempt, which was also a no jump.

For his third round he appeared with strapping on both knees, and the effort was a safe jump of 6.83 metres, way down on his 7.47m personal best and once again he was visibly in pain.

And enough was clearly enough for the decathlete, who was forced to withdraw due to the injury.

Awde, who finished 21st in Beijing, four years ago, is still undecided where his future lies and admits a change of events is possible.

“Whenever I jump it destroys it. If I run I’m fine, when I take off it destroys it,” he added.

“I thought about changing events, I thought about what I might do after I competed at the Games.

“Whether next year is going to be written off I don’t know. I have a lot of people saying I should dabble in the 400 metres or the 400 metre hurdles – we’ll see. I’m going to speak to my coach and doctors to see what can be done.

“My passion is for decathlon. It is what I love doing and what I came into the sport to do and if I can’t do that I don’t know.

“I’m in the best shape of my life. I was so ready for this to put on a good show, entertain the crowd. I was ready, but my knee wasn’t.

“If the pain is enough to make me stop and pull out of my home Olympics then it’s too painful.”