By Romaine Soh for DyeStat

EUGENE, Oregon -- After no one else cleared the bar at 7 feet, 6 inches, Erik Kynard was on his own.

The sky was the limit. Kynard brought the bar up by two inches instead of the usual 1-inch progression.

However, the 2012 Olympic silver medalist failed to clear 7-8, which would have equaled his season’s best, on Sunday at the U.S. Track & Field Olympic Trials. He still went home with his fourth high jump national title.

“I didn’t miss a bar until I went up,” said Kynard, who is currently ranked fourth in the world. “It kinda makes it very difficult to get into it when you’ve had the competition gone.”

Though Southern Illinois junior Kyle Landon set a new PR of 7-5 to clinch the silver, he was unable to clear the Olympic standard of 7-6 and will not head to Rio. Ricky Robertson, who cleared 7-3 to finish in sixth, will be going instead since he had met the standard beforehand.

Bradley Adkins cleared 7-3 to finish in third. Since Adkins had met the Olympic standard in February, he is cleared to go to Rio as well.

“I don’t feel like I jumped high enough,” Kynard said. “I keep my season averages, so 7-6 is going to pull it down. I’m going to have to make it higher before the Games starts.”

Kynard was a 21-year-old collegiate athlete at Kansas State University when he competed at his first Olympics and won the silver medal in London. This time, he is gunning for gold at the Rio de Janeiro Games.

“Being second is a tough position to take a medal,” said Kynard. “You’re grateful you’re not in third, but you definitely want to win. I’m just going to compete on a high level and have fun.”

Four years later, Kynard, 25, is no longer a collegian succumbing to the pressures of high-level competitions. He is an adult who has set lofty goals for himself and believes in himself.

“I’ve matured in a lot of ways,” he said. “I’ve put myself in a peaceful, progressive posture. I just want to be the best Erik Kynard that I can be.”

The high jumpers faced rainy weather during both the qualifying rounds and the final, which made the track surface less than ideal for the highly technical event. Kynard was seen sweeping the water off the track with a broom in the qualifiers.

“I had a garbage bag to prepare for the rain,” said Kynard. “I was trying to figure out if I needed to bring some scuba gear.”

Robertson, who was out of the competition after he only managed to clear 7-3, watched Landon’s last jump anxiously as the collegian tried in vain to hit the Olympic standard.

“I wanted him to make it, but then again, I didn’t,” said Robertson. “He’s a good jumper. It would have been a great experience for him.”