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

55 страница из 79

In 2015, Drouin won golds in his two major competitions: Pan American Games at Toronto (7–9¼) and World Championships at Beijing (7–8). He won the world title in a dramatic jump-off against Bondarenko, the defending champion, and China’s Guowei Zhang. Drouin became Canada’s first high jump world champion, and first world champion in any event out of IU.

“I was telling myself that if there was ever an opportunity (to win gold), this was it,” Drouin said. “I really felt like I was the one to beat, that this was my championship to lose. I told myself so many times that ‘you can win this, you can win this,’ that when it finally happened, it was just a relief.”

Rain stopped shortly before competition began, erasing his takeoff mark. He adjusted, and was one of three jumpers tied for first at 7–7¾. They missed three times each at 7–8¾, and then a fourth time. The bar was lowered to 7–8, and Drouin cleared on his first attempt. When the two others missed, Drouin was gold medalist. Bondarenko and Zhang tied for silver. Oddly, Drouin said he had been so frustrated with a new approach that he just wanted the season to be over.