Brazil's Braz Thiago da Silva celebrates after the men's pole vault final at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Aug. 15, 2016. Braz Thiago da Silva won the gold medal. (Xinhua/Wang Lili)
Brazil's Braz Thiago da Silva celebrates after the men's pole vault final at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Aug. 15, 2016. Braz Thiago da Silva won the gold medal. (Xinhua/Wang Lili)
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Thiago Braz da Silva thanked Brazilian fans for willing him on to the pole vault gold medal at the Rio Olympics on Monday.
The 22-year-old clinched Brazil's first ever Olympic title in the discipline by surprising France's defending champion Renaud Lavillenie.
Da Silva set a new Olympic record of 6.03m, to beat his previous personal best by 10cm and send the crowd at the Olympic Stadium into a frenzy.
"It's incredible, my first time over six metres," Da Silva said. "We worked really hard for this moment - not for the gold but to take a medal. For Brazil, it is amazing. I try to do my best for the people, they believe in us."
"The crowd were cheering so much and really lifted me. I'm thankful for their support."
Lavillenie took silver with a best jump of 5.98m while Sam Kendricks of the United States took bronze with 5.85m.
The Czech Republic's Jan Kudlicka and Poland's Piotr Lisek tied for fourth with a best leap of 5.75m.
The result gave Brazil their second gold medal of the Games following Rafaela Silva's victory in the women's -57kg judo division.
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