IU junior high jumper and 2012 NCAA runner up Derek Drouin can one more accolade to his name: Olympic Medalist.
Drouin jumped for a bronze medal Tuesday afternoon at the 2012 London Olympics, clearing 2.29 meters (7'6?) before failing to jump over the 2.33 meter-mark.
Along with Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim and Great Britain’s Robert Grabarz, Drouin cleared each of his first three heights (2.20, 2.25, 2.29) with zero misses, putting the trio in a tie for first place.
After only Kansas State senior and 2012 NCAA Champion Erik Kynard and Russian Ivan Ukhov cleared the 2.33 meter (7'7¾”) mark, the trio failed to clear that height after their three jumps.
That put them into a tie for third place and bronze medal position. Since they had the same number of misses before that point (zero), they all received a bronze medal.
Following Drouin’s elimination, Kynard failed to jump at the 2.36 (7'8¾”) and 2.38 (7'9¾”) meter heights while Ukhov successfully hit those jumps. Kynard finished competition with a silver medal, and Ukhov won gold.
Drouin’s bronze medal is the second for IU during the 2012 Olympics. Last week, 2012 IU graduate Margaux Farrell earned a bronze medal as part of the French 4X200 freestyle relay team.
