Derek Drouin on Thursday (18th August), reflected on winning the men's high jump at the Rio Olympic Games, ending an 84-year gold medal drought for Canada in a field event.

SOUNDBITE: (English) Derek Drouin, Olympic High Jump Champion:

"Yeah, after London I said the same thing, I feel like pressure's off for my career. You know, I've got the Olympic medal, nobody can take that away from me. Obviously this is the same situation, where it's the illustrious gold medal, and it's going to be with me for the rest of my life."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Derek Drouin, Olympic High Jump Champion:

(on his final jump, knowing he had already secured the gold medal)

"Yeah, to be able to take the pressure off and be in a situation where you're jumping for fun, or you're basically just jumping for yourself at that point, there's no better feeling than knowing you already have a gold medal around your neck. So at that point I really wanted to give a shot at the Olympic record, and take one more jump, but after experiencing the flood of emotions that come when you realise you're Olympic champion, it was pretty tough to get myself back into it."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Derek Drouin, Olympic High Jump Champion:

(on the 84-year Canadian gold medal drought in Olympic field events)

"Yeah, I mean it's awesome. Like I said, I certainly don't think it's going to be another 80-plus years before it happens again. We've got a really talented group right now, and talented athletes coming up. So I'm sure somebody else is going to join the club really soon."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Derek Drouin, Olympic High Jump Champion:

(on his unconventional technique)

"Like I said, I certainly don't think that I'm pioneering anything super-revolutionary, but if people look at my approach and think I'm kind of a similar athlete, maybe I should do the same thing, then more power to them, and I'm happy to help out in any way."