Richard Thompson

Richard Thompson

Thompson at the 2009 World Championships
Personal information
Nationality	Trinidad and Tobago
Born	(1985-06-07) 7 June 1985 (age 26)
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	80 kg (180 lb)
Sport
Sport	Running
Event(s)	100 metres, 200 metres
College team	LSU Tigers
Medal record Men’s athletics Competitor for  Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Games Silver 2008 Beijing 100 m Silver 2008 Beijing 4×100 m relay World Championships Silver 2009 Berlin 4×100 m relay NACAC Championships Gold 2007 San Salvador 100 m Bronze 2007 San Salvador 4×100 m relay CAC Championships Gold 2008 Cali 4×100 m relay

Richard "Torpedo" Thompson (born 7 June 1985) is a sprinter from Cascade, Trinidad and Tobago who specializes in the 100 metres. He was the silver medalist in the event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, running a personal best of 9.89 seconds.

He won NCAA titles indoors and outdoors in 2008. Thompson has also won medals with the national relay team, taking silver medals at both the 2008 Olympics and the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, where he ran a national record time.

Career

He ran for Louisiana State University as a member of the LSU Tigers track and field team and set NCAA Indoor record in the 60 metres in 2008.^[1]

In his first World Championships in Athletics in Osaka in 2007, Thompson reached the second round but finished eighth in a time of 10.44 seconds. His personal best time is 9.89 seconds, achieved in August 2008 in Beijing, China, during the Olympic 100 m final where he won silver.^[2] Thompson's personal best for the 200 metres is 20.18 s which ran in Fayetteville for LSU. His 60 metres best is 6.51 s, achieved in March 2008 in Fayetteville. He won the relay gold medal at the 2008 Central American and Caribbean Championships with Trinidad and Tobago.

In the 2008 Summer Olympics he competed in the 100 m sprint and placed first in his heat ahead of Martial Mbandjock with a time of 10.24 s. He qualified for the second round, beating Tyson Gay and Mbandjock, with a winning time of 9.99 s. He qualified in the semi finals with a time of 9.93 s, finishing second to Asafa Powell. In the final he finished in second place; he was far behind winner Usain Bolt (9.69 s) but his time of 9.89 s was enough to win the silver medal and set a new personal best. His new best time made him the second fastest Trinidadian 100 m sprinter ever, after Ato Boldon.^[3]

Together with Keston Bledman, Aaron Armstrong and Marc Burns he also competed at the 4 x 100 metres relay. In their qualification heat they placed first in front of Japan, the Netherlands and Brazil. Their time of 38.26 s was the fastest of all sixteen teams participating in the first round and they qualified for the final. Armstrong was replaced by Emmanuel Callender for the final race and they sprinted to a time of 38.06 s, the second time after the Jamaican team, winning the silver medal.

Thompson was involved in a car accident on 1 January 2009, resulting in minor injuries which caused him to miss the indoor athletics season.^[4] He competed at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics and reached the 100 m final, finishing in fifth place with a season's best of 9.93 seconds in fastest ever race at that point in time. He teamed up with fellow finalist Marc Burns for the relay and ran a national record time of 37.62 seconds to finish as runners-up behind the Jamaican team.^[5]

He achieved a 100/200 m double at the 2010 national championships.^[6] His season was highlighted by a win on the 2010 IAAF Diamond League circuit, taking the 100 m at the Prefontaine Classic with a wind-assisted time of 9.89 seconds.^[7]

On 13 August 2011, Thompson became the fastest man in Trinidad and Tobago when he run 9.85s (+1.0) in the 100m during the Sagicor-NAAA National open track and field championships 2011, at the Hasely Crawford stadium, Port of Spain. The achievement, which ranked him 9th fastest in all-time lists, eclipses Ato Boldon's national record 9.86s which set 4 times during late 1990s.^[8]

Major competition record

Personal bests

Correct as of 13 August 2011

• 60m and 200m taken from IAAF profile^[9]
• 100m taken from NAAA TT Website^[10]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Richard Thompson (athlete)

• IAAF profile for Richard Thompson
• Richard Thompson medal in the greatest race over 100 metres from Trinibeat.com