21 Facts About Derek Drouin

Derek Drouin won gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and was the 2015 World Champion.

Derek Drouin won gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2015 Pan American Games, and won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics and a bronze medal at the 2013 World Championships.

Derek Drouin first learned to high jump in kindergarten in Corunna, Ontario when his teacher introduced the sport to the class.

Derek Drouin would continue on in his career competing in the NCAA with the Indiana Hoosiers track team where he would be the first Hoosier athlete to win an NCAA championship in high jump.

Derek Drouin won the Big Ten Athlete of the Year in 2013, after becoming the first athlete in NCAA history to win 5 NCAA championships in the high jump.

Derek Drouin competed in the high jump event at the 2012 Summer Olympics after winning the Canadian national championships with a 2.31 to edge out compatriot Michael Mason who competed in London.

Derek Drouin was almost unable to get to the point where he could compete at the Olympics, having torn three ligaments in his foot in 2011 after jumping in a meet in Mississippi State and only returned to competition in April 2012.

In two Diamond League meets in London and Monaco before the Olympics, Derek Drouin won and finished third with a 2.26 and 2.30 for each respective meet.

Derek Drouin initially won the bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England with a jump of 2.29 metres.

Derek Drouin's medal was retroactively upgraded to silver in 2021 when the original winner Ukhov of the event was disqualified.

One month after the Worlds, Derek Drouin won his first major international title at the 7th edition of the Francophone Games held in Nice, France on Saturday September 14,2013.

Derek Drouin then cleared 2.40 on his third attempt for a new Canadian record.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Derek Drouin jumped a season best height of 2.38 metres to win the gold medal, defeating Barshim and Bondarenko.

Derek Drouin cleared every height on his first attempt, until he missed at 2.40 while going for the Olympic record.

Derek Drouin was the first Canadian to win a gold medal in a field sport since Duncan McNaughton, who won the high jump at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Derek Drouin is noted for a slightly different technique than most of his contemporary opponents.

Derek Drouin's approach involves him going slower and bounding toward the bar rather than running at it with pace as his opponents do.

Derek Drouin did add that he still intends to compete in the high jump at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London to defend his world title.

Derek Drouin was born in Sarnia, Ontario, to Sheila and Gaetan Derek Drouin.

Derek Drouin grew up in Corunna, Ontario, a small community in the St Clair Township.

In 2012, Derek Drouin was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.