Derek Drouin's success brings back memories of Greg Joy in '76

By Tim Wharnsby, CBC Sports 

Derek Drouin knows his high jump history. Even though Drouin was born 13 ½ years after Greg Joy's silver-medal soiree in the high jump competition at Montreal's Olympic Stadium, Canada's current high-jump champion knows all about what Joy accomplished on that magical, but chilly, damp evening on July 31, 1976.

It was the final full day of competition in Montreal and the first Olympic Games in Canada had not gone well for the host nation. There were no gold medals for Canada, and Joy provided the nation with only its fifth silver to celebrate to go with six bronze medals.

• WATCH: Men's high jump final Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. (cbc.ca/olympics, CBC's Rio 2016 app, CBC TV)
• SCHEDULE & RESULTS: Men's high jump at Rio 2016

Joy was 20, just a couple years out of high school. He was engaged in a battle with Poland's Jacek Wszola and Dwight Stones of the United States.

Joy won silver with a clearance of 2.23 metres, electrifying the Canadian crowd.

Flash forward to the 2012 Olympics in London. A 22-year-old Drouin won bronze with a leap of 2.29 metres.

"I knew that it had been a long time since a Canadian high jumper had medalled in an Olympic Games and I knew who Greg was," the 26-year-old Drouin said.

"My parents [Sheila and Gaetan] knew his story. 

"[Joy] sent a nice note after London and a few since then. I've never met him in person, just email exchanges. Of course, I've seen his jump countless times.

"He's been very, very supportive and he has told me how proud he was and how great it was for him to watch [the effort in London four years ago], and how much he thinks it's great that the legacy of Canadian high jumpers continued."

Inspired by Simon Whitfield's 2000 gold

Before he became aware of Joy's story, Drouin's inspiration was Canadian triathlete Simon Whitfield. Drouin vividly remembers being at home watching Whitfield's clutch gold-medal performance at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

"I can pretty much date my aspirations back to that day," said Drouin, who grew up in Corunna, Ont., near Sarnia.

"I was so proud that this was a Canadian and he was the best at the world at something. He was somebody like me who grew up in Canada and he proved that anyone of us could work hard and be the best in the world."

Drouin didn't know he would become one of the best in the world at his discipline back when he started to jump in elementary school. But he liked the sport so much that when his school banned high jump for safety reasons that didn't stop the young Drouin from finding a way to continue to work on his craft.

True, he filled his competitive void by trying his hand at sprinting and the long jump, but in his basement he would jump over a broom stick placed across a couple of box speakers and he would land on a couch.

"The thing I liked about high jump is it's pretty cut and dry," Drouin said. "There is a bar that you either get over or you don't. It's only you. I like the fact it's an individual sport that you have to rely on yourself and you get into it what you put into it.

"Plus, my body [6-foot-5, 176 pounds] is suited for the sport."

Family support

His older sister, Jillian, was a two-time Canadian high-jump champion and later became one of the country's top heptathletes, although she didn't make the Canadian team for Rio.

"Yes, it definitely helps because we both know what we're going through," Derek said about having another elite-level athlete in the family.

Drouin went to the University of Indiana and trained there after until this year, when he moved to Toronto to be with his coach Jeff Huntoon, who moved from Bloomington, Indiana after being hired by Athletics Canada.

After London, Drouin jumped his personal best, a Canadian record 2.40 metres at the Drake Relays in Philadelphia. He also won gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. 

In 2015, he won the world championship and the Toronto Pan Am Games just a few weeks earlier.

"I didn't know how excited it was going to be until I got on the track. It wasn't the Olympics, but it was something else to compete at home in front of family and friends. I kind of wish I had that experience before London, but now I'm glad I went through that experience."

This summer, Drouin has worked on improving the speed of his nine-stride takeoff.

He won another Canadian championship in early July, clearing 2.30 to take it easy as he prepares for Rio, when he would love to mark the 40th anniversary of Joy's silver-medal jump with a golden moment of his own.