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

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In Olympic qualifying, the customarily precise jumper missed twice at 7–3, a low bar for him. All he could think about was what he would say to his parents, who made the 5,350-mile trip from Corunna.

“‘I’m so sorry I put you through this.’ I’m sure they were more nervous than I was,” Drouin said.

He cleared the bar on his third and final attempt, and kept climbing. He eventually finished sixth, leaping 7–6 to join thirteen other finalists. Drouin was already eleventh in the standings and might not have needed to clear 7–6 but said he wasn’t sure, so he took his third attempt anyway. He missed once at 7–5 and twice at 7–6.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had that many misses in my life,” he said.

The final had a different kind of drama. Drouin made 7–2½, 7–4½ and 7–6, all on first attempts. Eight jumpers cleared 7–6, but only Drouin and three others did so without a miss. Kynard and Russia’s Ivan Ukhov cleared the next bar, 7–7¾. After Drouin missed three times, he said it was “the worst feeling ever” to watch others attempt the same bar. Anyone else’s clearance would have knocked him off the podium.