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 (7'7\0xBE") 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 (7'8\0xBE") and 2.38 (7'9\0xBE") 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.
