Drouin: 'I came out here to win gold'

Canada's Derek Drouin - who secured bronze along with two other athletes at London 2012 - put in a near-perfect performance to improve to gold this time out. 

Published : Aug 17, 2016 13:16 IST

Derek Drouin cut a confident figure throughout the qualifiers and the final, eventually going on to claim the gold.
Derek Drouin cut a confident figure throughout the qualifiers and the final, eventually going on to claim the gold.
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Derek Drouin cut a confident figure throughout the qualifiers and the final, eventually going on to claim the gold.

Canada's Derek Drouin insisted he was confident enough of securing gold in the men's high jump despite coming into Rio 2016 with reasonable expectations. 

Drouin - who secured bronze along with two other athletes at London 2012 - put in a near-perfect performance to improve to gold this time out. 

He was the only man to jump 2.38 metres, beating Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim who received silver, while Ukraine's Bohdan Bondarenko took home the bronze.

Drouin cut a confident figure throughout the qualifiers and the final, eventually going on to claim the gold - Canada's third of the Games. 

"A few months ago if you had told me there was going to be a point where I was in the top three I would have exhaled," the 26-year-old said. 

"But the last couple of days I have been feeling so, so confident - I was coming out here to win gold.

"The last couple of days I had a realisation that I wasn't nervous at all, I was so excited to be out there because I was confident in my preparation and also I just love the Olympics and was really just taking the whole moment in.

"I thrive in a situation where there is a lot going on, I don't sense a whole lot of distractions."

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