Derek Drouin 5th at Diamond League meet despite season-best jump
Canadian fresh off 3rd straight title at Drake Relays
Canada's Derek Drouin cleared a season-best 2.29 metres Friday in men's high jump at the season-opening Diamond League meet in Doha, Qatar.
The 25-year-old Corunna, Ont., native achieved the height on his third and final attempt at Qatar Sports Club, where the temperature soared to 32 C, to finish fifth in the field of nine. Drouin then missed all three of his attempts at 2.31m.
💎 League Doha: Derek Drouin <a href="https://twitter.com/ddrouin">@ddrouin</a> 5th with a best of 2.29m <a href="https://t.co/RjYSO6jMSI">pic.twitter.com/RjYSO6jMSI</a>
—@AthleticsCanadaHis career best is 2.40, a Canadian record.
Erik Kynard of the United States won Friday's event with a jump of 2.33m, followed by China's Zhang Guowei (2.31) and Italy's Marco Fassinotti (2.29).
Drouin, who won a third straight title at the Drake Relays in Iowa on April 29, reunited this season with Jeff Huntoon, his college coach at Indiana, where he won five NCAA outdoor and indoor titles.
Drouin won gold at the Pan American Games in Toronto last summer before capturing Canada's first world high jump title the following month in Beijing as the only man to clear 2.34m.
One of Canada's top medal hopes for the Rio Olympics in August, Drouin will look to improve upon his bronze performance at the 2012 Summer Games in London. He also placed third at the 2013 worlds.
Liz Gleadle, a 2015 Pan Am gold medallist in javelin, and shot putter Taryn Suttie were the other Canadians among the field of 206 athletes from 50 countries and five continents in Doha.
Gleadle, 27, placed last in a field of nine with a distance of 50.21m, far off her personal best of 64.83, and took to Twitter shortly after the event to explain the reason for her disappointing performance.
Chalking up today comp to jet lag setting in and hitting my nervous system. On to Tokyo to reset my internal clock!!
—@JavelizzThe Vancouver native won Pan Am gold last August and then silver at the Weltklasse Diamond League meeting in Zurich, beating 2015 world medallists Kathrina Molitor of Germany and Sunette Viljoen of Russia.
Gleadle, who is ranked fifth internationally, will compete in Rio after placing 12th at the 2012 London Summer Games.
The 25-year-old Suttie, who hails from Hanley, Sask., reached 17.63m to finish seventh among eight throwers on Friday.
She the Rio qualifying standard of 17.75 last month with a throw of 17.88 to surpass her previous best of 17.66.
Suttie, who has been training and competing in Phoenix since mid-March, is awaiting the announcement of Canada's roster after the Canadian track and field championship/Olympic trials in early July.
American Tia Brooks threw a personal best 19.48 to win Friday. Hungary's Anita Marton (19.22) and Turkey's Emel Dereli (18.57) rounded out the podium.
Diamond League on CBC Sports
CBC Sports will provide live streaming coverage of all 14 Diamond League meet this season at CBCSports.ca and via the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices. TV coverage will be featured as part of the network's Road To The Olympic Games weekend broadcasts throughout the season.
The following is a list of upcoming Diamond League meets on CBCSports.ca and the CBC Sports app:
- Shanghai (May 14, 7 a.m. ET)
- Rabat (May 22, 12 p.m. ET)
- Eugene (May 28, 4 p.m. ET)
- Rome (June 2, 2 p.m. ET)
- Birmingham (June 5, 9 a.m. ET)
- Oslo (June 9, 2 p.m. ET)
- Stockholm (June 16, 2 p.m. ET)