Читать книгу Indiana University Olympians. From Leroy Samse to Lilly King онлайн

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“She calmed me down. I knew that it was serious,” he said. “I knew that it would be a lot of hard work. But I never really had a dark moment after that.”

The surgery required two metal screws to be inserted, then removed three months later. The procedure made Drouin’s foot feel arthritic. His rate of recovery astonished everyone. In one practice session, his approach to the bar was so swift and effortless than Indiana coach Ron Helmer, standing across the track, thought Drouin was bounding off a ramp used as training tool. Not so. He was jumping off level ground. Soon thereafter, Drouin won the 2012 Big Ten title, setting a meet record of 7–7.

“Big Ten’s where it turned around,” he said. “I think I really needed that emotionally.”

He jumped 7–7 at the NCAA Championships to finish second to Kansas State’s Erik Kynard, and 7–7 again at the Canadian trials. His build-up to the Olympics included a 7–5 jump for victory in a July 13 meet at London, then 7–6½ for third July 20 at Monaco.

Still, Drouin was neither ranked in the world’s top ten nor projected to be a medalist. He trained with the Canadian team in Kamen, Germany, and didn’t arrive at the Olympic Village until nearly a week after the opening ceremony.