(Kevin Light/CBC)
Derek Drouin soared into the finals in Rio.
The reigning world champion is the lone Canadian man in the final Tuesday night after Mike Mason failed to clear the requisite height of 2.29 metres in the qualification round on Sunday. Drouin, on the other hand, cleared all four of his jumps including the qualifying height of 2.29, which is comfortably below his season best height of 2.38.
(Cameron Spencer/Getty)
The arc of Drouin's season gives him a shot at the podium.
The 26-year-old from Corunna, Ont., is in Rio in top form. At the world championships of track and field in Beijing last year, he won the competition after a thrilling jump-for-jump final against Ukraine's Bohdan Bondarenko.
The two rivals first met in the Olympics in 2012 (Bondarenko finished in seventh) and will have their sights on medals. The final is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET in Rio.
(Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)
Drouin tied for the bronze at the London Olympics.
Drouin tied for third with Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim and Britain's Robert Grabarz at London 2012. Both of those competitors are in Tuesday night's final, too, and will be looking to stand alone on the Olympic podium this time around. American Erik Kynard jumped against Drouin in 2012, too, and won a silver medal for his efforts. He's also in the final on Tuesday night.
(Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty)
2012 was Drouin's breakout year.
Before his bronze medal win in 2012 (Canada's first medal in the event since Montreal '76), Drouin was better known in the U.S. than at home.
At six foot five inches tall and 176 pounds, Drouin has the build of a jumper and went to college in Indiana to compete on the Hoosiers track and field team.
His is no underdog story, though. Drouin won five NCAA indoor and outdoor championships with Indiana coach Jeff Huntoon, who has since taken a job with Athletics Canada in Toronto.
(Kevin Light/CBC)
That's Drouin (above) at the Canadian Olympic trials in Edmonton last month, and (below) at the Victoria Track Classic in B.C. in June. He won both meets.
(Chad Hipolito/Canadian Press)
Ones to watch tonight:
Mutaz Essa Barshim, representing Qatar, went 2.40 metres this year and Donald Thomas, from Bahamas, isn't far off at 2.37. Drouin has the Canadian record of 2.40, which he set in 2014, and posted a season best of 2.38 this year.
Bodarenko's best this year is 2.37 metres.
(Cameron Spencer/Getty)
Bran Starc could be the dark horse.
Games of Thrones fans will also want to keep an eye on Brandon Starc, of #House Stark, I mean, Australia, who is also jumping in the final.
Here's Starc with Drouin in Beijing in 2015.
(Ian Walton/Getty)
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