Canada’s Derek Drouin won the men’s high jump gold medal Tuesday night.
Advertisement
Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim, also a bronze medallist in London, had successfully cleared every height at the first time up until the 2.38 mark, failing three times as his hopes of gold faded.
“There was obviously some pressure but I’m very proud of the way I jumped”, Drouin told reporters.
Drouin is the first Canadian to win a gold medal in a field event since 1932, when Duncan McNaughton won the high jump in Los Angeles.
“I thrive in a situation where there is a lot going on, I don’t sense a whole lot of distractions”.
“I didn’t realise that”, smiled Drouin, confessing he was not completely up to speed on Canadian Olympic history.
The swimming competition ended at the Rio Summer Olympics Sunday, but athletes with Indiana University connections continued to stack more gold medals than Spain, Croatia, New Zealand, Greece and even host Brazil.
Advertisement
“When you grow up idolising people like that it’s really, really hard to see yourself as one of them”, he said.
