Obadele Thompson

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Medal record
Men’s athletics
Competitor for Flag of Barbados Barbados
Olympic Games
Bronze 2000 Sydney 100 m
World Indoor Championships
Silver 1999 Maebashi 200 m

Obadele Thompson (born March 30, 1976) is a sprint athlete from Barbados. In 2000, he became the first individual Olympic medalist for his island nation winning a bronze medal in the 100 m race.

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[edit] Biography

Born in Saint Michael, Thompson attended Harrison College (the island's top school) before earning a scholarship, and graduated with honors with a degree in marketing and economics from the University of Texas at El Paso, United States.

On February 21, 2007 Thompson announced his engagement to pregnant Marion Jones. The marriage took place in a private ceremony on February 24, 2007 in North Carolina with close friends and family in attendance [1]. Their first child together was born in July 2007[citation needed]. Jones also has son Tim Jr (born 28 June 2003) with ex-boyfriend world class sprinter Tim Montgomery.

[edit] Career

A junior world record holder in 1994, he came close to winning an Olympic medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, when he finished 4th in the 200 m final, which was won by Michael Johnson in a new World Record time.

Competing with the top sprinters in the late 1990s, Thompson came close to major wins at the 1999 World Championships. He finished fourth in both the 100 m and 200 m.

He won a medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, finishing third behind Maurice Greene and Trinidad and Tobago's Ato Boldon to become a national hero in Barbados. Thompson came in fourth place in the 200 m race.

In April 1996 in El Paso, Texas, Thompson ran the fastest 100 m race ever. He was clocked at the time of 9.69 s[2]. However, it was achieved with the following wind in excess of 5 m/s, well over the IAAF legal limit of 2.0 m/s, and the mark was not officially recognized.

His fastest legal time in the 100 m is 9.87, and he ran his personal best in the 200 m at 19.97 in 2000.

After the 2000 Olympics, Thompson was made the National Sports Ambassador by Prime Minister Owen Arthur.

[edit] Personal Bests

Event Venue Time Date
55 m U.S. 5.99 (WAC championship) 1997
100 m Johannesburg, South Africa 9.87 September 11, 1998
200 m Yokohama, Japan 19.97 September 9, 2000
400 m El Paso, Texas 45.38 March 30, 1996

[edit] Achievements

Year Tournament Venue Result Event
1997 IAAF Grand Prix Fukuoka, Japan 2nd 200 m
1998 IAAF World Cup Johannesburg, South Africa 1st 100 m
1998 IAAF Golden League / Grand Prix Moskow, Russia 2nd 100 m
1999 IAAF World Championships Sevilla, Spain 4th 100 m
1999 IAAF Grand Prix Munich, Germany 4th 200 m
1999 IAAF World Championships Sevilla, Spain 4th 200 m
1999 IAAF World Indoor Championships Maebashi, Japan 2nd 200 m
2000 2000 Summer Olympics Sydney, Australia 3rd 100 m
2000 2000 Summer Olympics Sydney, Australia 4th 200 m
2004 2004 Summer Olympics Athens, Greece 7th 100 m

[edit] References

[edit] External links