Thiago Braz

Thiago Braz da Silva (born 16 December 1993) is a Brazilian athlete specializing in the pole vault who held the Olympic record of 6.03 metres. He won the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics and the bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Career

In 2012, he won the gold medal at the World Junior Championships.

In 2013, he became the South American champion with a new outdoor area record of 5.83 metres. On 24 June 2015, he set a new record of 5.92 metres in Baku, Azerbaijan.

On 13 February 2016, he extended the South American indoor record to 5.93 metres in Berlin, Germany.

On 15 August 2016, at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Thiago Braz da Silva won the gold medal in men's pole vault by beating French pole-vaulter Renaud Lavillenie, the incumbent world record holder and gold medalist in London Olympic Games. In the final, Lavillenie and Braz were the only two athletes to achieve the high of 5.93m, and consequently, they were the only two left to dispute the gold medal. Lavillenie easily cleared the next height, 5.98m, with his first attempt, but da Silva decided to skip 5.98m (as clearing that height would still have left him in silver-medal position on countback) and went on to 6.03m. With a successful second attempt at 6.03m, da Silva set a new Olympic Record. Lavillenie, having failed his first two attempts at 6.03m, attempted 6.08 with his final jump but failed. Thiago Braz da Silva won the gold medal with an Olympic record and surpassed his personal best performance by 10 cm. He was just 1 cm away from matching Brad Walker's Americas record of 6.04 m.