Journal Staff
Olympic gold medalist Derek Drouin has turned his sights to a new sport.
The 26-year-old Corunna native announced recently he will pursue decathlon with hopes of representing Canada at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Drouin, who won gold in high jump at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, is known to have a strong background in many of the decathlon disciplines.
"It's to get back to what I was doing in college, which was really when I was most confident competing. I kind of felt my strongest, felt like I was in my best physical shape, and I just have a whole lot of fun doing that," Drouin told the National Post recently.
Decathlon is two-day, 10-discipline event that includes long jump, shot put, high jump, discus, javelin and running events. Drouin He was recruited to Indian University as a multi-sport athlete, and as a hurdler in his final year was ranked in the top 20 in the NCAA.
He has said he plans to defend his title as the reigning world champion in high jump in London this summer, and also to compete in a few decathlons this year.
Drouin returned to Corunna last November when he was given a hero’s welcome at his old school, St. Joseph’s Catholic. It was there that his learned to high jump and his Olympic dreams began, the told the students.