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 2 athletes to achieve the high of 5.93m and consequently they were the only 2 left to dispute the gold medal. Lavillenie managed to clear the next height, 5.98m, easily with his first attempt, but da Silva decided to skip 5.98m 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 surpassing his personal best performance by 10 cm. He was just 1 cm away from matching Brad Walker's Americas record, of 6.04 m.