Richard Thompson (athlete)
Encyclopedia
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 medal
ist 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.
as a member of the LSU Tigers track and field
team and set NCAA Indoor
record in the 60 metres
in 2008.
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. 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
.
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 Jamaica
n 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. 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.
He achieved a 100/200 m double at the 2010 national championships. 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.
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 1990's.
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
who specializes in the 100 metres
100 metres
The 100 metres, or 100-metre dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, it is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896...
. He was the silver medal
Silver medal
A silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....
ist 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
2009 World Championships in Athletics
The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate....
, where he ran a national record
Trinidad and Tobago records in athletics
The following are the national records in athletics in Trinidad and Tobago maintained by Trinidad and Tobago's national athletics federation: National Association of Athletic Administration of Trinidad and Tobago .-Men:-Women:-Men:-Women:...
time.
Career
He ran for Louisiana State UniversityLouisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
as a member of the LSU Tigers track and field
LSU Tigers track and field
The LSU Tigers track and field team represents Louisiana State University in NCAA Division I men's indoor and outdoor track and field.-History:...
team and set NCAA Indoor
NCAA Men's Indoor Track and Field Championship
NCAA team champions for Men's Indoor Track and Field-See also:*NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship*NCAA Women's Indoor Track and Field Championship*NCAA Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship*Pre-NCAA Indoor Track and Field Champions...
record in the 60 metres
60 metres
60 metres is a sprint event in track and field athletics. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior athletes...
in 2008.
In his first World Championships in Athletics in Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
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
Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics were held during the last 10 days of the games, from August 15 to August 24, 2008, at the Beijing National Stadium. The Olympic sport of athletics is split into four distinct sets of events: track and field events, road running events, and racewalking...
100 m final where he won silver. Thompson's personal best for the 200 metres
200 metres
A 200 metres race is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 m track, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques are needed to successfully run the race. A slightly shorter race, called the stadion and run on a straight track, was the first...
is 20.18 s which ran in Fayetteville for LSU. His 60 metres
60 metres
60 metres is a sprint event in track and field athletics. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior athletes...
best is 6.51 s, achieved in March 2008 in Fayetteville. He won the relay gold medal
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
at the 2008 Central American and Caribbean Championships
2008 Central American and Caribbean Championships
The 2008 Central American and Caribbean Championships were held at the Estadio Pedro Grajales in Cali, Colombia between 4–6 July 2008. A total of 44 events were contested, of which 22 by male and 22 by female athletes. During the three-day competition, six championship records were broken...
with Trinidad and Tobago.
In the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
he competed in the 100 m sprint and placed first in his heat ahead of Martial Mbandjock
Martial Mbandjock
Martial Mbandjock is an a French sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres. His personal best time is 10.06 seconds, achieved in July 2008 in Albi....
with a time of 10.24 s. He qualified for the second round, beating Tyson Gay
Tyson Gay
Tyson Gay is an American track and field sprinter. His primary events are the 100 meters and 200 meters. His personal bests establish him as the second fastest athlete in the 100 meters and the fifth fastest athlete in the history of the 200 meters, with times of 9.69 and...
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
Asafa Powell
Asafa Powell C.D is a Jamaican sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres. He held the 100 m world record between June 2005 and May 2008, with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds respectively. Powell has consistently broken the 10-second barrier in competition, with his personal best of...
. In the final he finished in second place; he was far behind winner Usain Bolt
Usain Bolt
The Honourable Usain St. Leo Bolt, OJ, C.D. , is a Jamaican sprinter and a five-time World and three-time Olympic gold medalist. He is the world record and Olympic record holder in the 100 metres, the 200 metres and the 4×100 metres relay...
(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
Ato Boldon
Ato Jabari Boldon is a former athlete from Trinidad and Tobago and four-time Olympic medal winner. Only 2 other men in history, Frankie Fredericks and Carl Lewis, have won as many Olympic individual event sprint medals. He is the current national record holder in the 50, 60 and 200 metres events...
.
Together with Keston Bledman
Keston Bledman
Keston Bledman is a track and field sprint athlete, who competes internationally for Trinidad and Tobago.On July 7, 2007, at the 2007 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships in São Paulo, Brazil, he upset the Jamaican Yohan Blake in the 100 meters, finishing in 10.32 seconds .Bledman...
, Aaron Armstrong
Aaron Armstrong
Aaron Nigel Armstrong is a track and field sprint athlete who competes internationally for Trinidad and Tobago.Armstrong attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he ran for the Florida Gators track and field team in NCAA competition...
and Marc Burns
Marc Burns
Marc Burns is an athlete from Trinidad and Tobago specializing in the 100 metres and the 4x100 metres.Participating in the 2004 Summer Olympics, he was disqualified from his 100 metres heat, thus failing to make it through to the second round.Marc Burns placed second in the men's 100 metres dash...
he also competed at the 4 x 100 metres relay
4 x 100 metres relay
The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners begin in the same stagger as for the individual 400 m race...
. In their qualification heat they placed first in front of Japan, the Netherlands and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. 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
Emmanuel Callender
Emmanuel Callender is a track and field sprint athlete, who competes internationally for Trinidad and Tobago.Callender represented Trinidad and Tobago at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He competed at the 4 x 100 m relay, together with Marc Burns, Aaron Armstrong, Keston Bledman and Richard...
for the final race and they sprinted to a time of 38.06 s, the second time after the Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n team, winning the silver medal
Silver medal
A silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....
.
Thompson was involved in a car accident on 1 January 2009, resulting in minor injuries which caused him to miss the indoor athletics season. He competed at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics
2009 World Championships in Athletics
The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate....
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
Marc Burns
Marc Burns is an athlete from Trinidad and Tobago specializing in the 100 metres and the 4x100 metres.Participating in the 2004 Summer Olympics, he was disqualified from his 100 metres heat, thus failing to make it through to the second round.Marc Burns placed second in the men's 100 metres dash...
for the relay and ran a national record time of 37.62 seconds to finish as runners-up behind the Jamaican team.
He achieved a 100/200 m double at the 2010 national championships. His season was highlighted by a win on the 2010 IAAF Diamond League
2010 IAAF Diamond League
The 2010 IAAF Diamond League was the first edition of the Diamond League, an annual series of fourteen one-day track and field meetings. The series began on 14 May in Doha, Qatar and ended on 27 August in Brussels, Belgium....
circuit, taking the 100 m at the Prefontaine Classic
Prefontaine Classic
The Prefontaine Classic is one of the premier track and field meets in the United States. Every year it draws a world caliber field to compete at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.-History:...
with a wind-assisted time of 9.89 seconds.
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
Hasely Crawford
Hasely Joachim Crawford is a former athlete from Trinidad and Tobago. In 1976, he became the first Olympic champion of his country. A stadium was renamed in his honour in 2001.-Early Years:...
stadium, Port of Spain
Port of Spain
Port of Spain, also written as Port-of-Spain, is the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the country's third-largest municipality, after San Fernando and Chaguanas. The city has a municipal population of 49,031 , a metropolitan population of 128,026 and a transient daily population...
. The achievement, which ranked him 9th fastest in all-time lists, eclipses Ato Boldon
Ato Boldon
Ato Jabari Boldon is a former athlete from Trinidad and Tobago and four-time Olympic medal winner. Only 2 other men in history, Frankie Fredericks and Carl Lewis, have won as many Olympic individual event sprint medals. He is the current national record holder in the 50, 60 and 200 metres events...
's national record 9.86s which set 4 times during late 1990's.
Major competition record
| 2007 | NACAC Championships 2007 NACAC Championships The 2007 North American, Central American and Caribbean Championships were a regional track and field competition held at the Flor Blanca National Stadium in San Salvador, El Salvador from July 13–15, 2007. It was the inaugural edition of a senior track and field championship for the NACAC region... |
San Salvador San Salvador The city of San Salvador the capital and largest city of El Salvador, which has been designated a Gamma World City. Its complete name is La Ciudad de Gran San Salvador... , El Salvador |
1st | 100 m |
| 3rd | 4×100 m relay | |||
| World Championships 2007 World Championships in Athletics The 11th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007... |
Osaka Osaka is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe... , Japan |
8th (q-finals) | 100 m | |
| 2008 | NCAA Indoor Championships | 1st | 60 m | |
| NCAA Championships | 1st | 100 m (9.93 sec) | ||
| Central American and Caribbean Championships Central American and Caribbean Championships The Central American and Caribbean Championships is an international track and field athletics event organised by the Central American and Caribbean Athletic Confederation . Only athletes representing a member nation of the confederation may compete. Created in 1967, the event has been held every... |
Cali, Colombia | 1st | 4×100 m relay | |
| Olympic Games Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics were held during the last 10 days of the games, from August 15 to August 24, 2008, at the Beijing National Stadium. The Olympic sport of athletics is split into four distinct sets of events: track and field events, road running events, and racewalking... |
Beijing Beijing Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's... , China |
2nd | 100 m (9.89 sec PB) | |
| 2nd | 4×100 m relay | |||
| 2009 | World Championships 2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate.... |
Berlin Berlin Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union... , Germany |
5th | 100 m 2009 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 100 metres The men's 100 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics were held at the Olympic Stadium on August 15 and August 16. The two main contenders for the event were the reigning World Champion Tyson Gay and Usain Bolt, the reigning Olympic champion and world record holder... |
| 2nd | 4×100 m relay 2009 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 4 x 100 metres relay The men's 4 x 100 metres relay at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics took place at the Olympic Stadium on August 21 and August 22. The two main contenders for the event were the reigning World Champions, the United States, and the reigning Olympic Champions, Jamaica... |
Personal bests
Correct as of 13 August 2011| Date | Event | Venue | Time (seconds) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 March 2008 | 60 metres | Fayetteville Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville is the county seat of Washington County, and the third largest city in Arkansas. The city is centrally located within the county and is home to the University of Arkansas. Fayetteville is also deep in the Boston Mountains, a subset of The Ozarks... , United States |
6.51 |
| 13 August 2011 | 100 metres | Hasely Crawford Stadium Hasely Crawford Stadium The Hasely Crawford Stadium, located in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, is named after Hasely Crawford, the first person from Trinidad and Tobago to win an Olympic gold medal. Originally built as the National Stadium in 1980, the stadium was re-named to honour Crawford in 2001. The stadium... , Trinidad and Tobago |
9.85 |
| 30 May 2008 | 200 metres | Fayetteville Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville is the county seat of Washington County, and the third largest city in Arkansas. The city is centrally located within the county and is home to the University of Arkansas. Fayetteville is also deep in the Boston Mountains, a subset of The Ozarks... , United States |
20.18 |
- 60m and 200m taken from IAAF profile
- 100m taken from NAAA TT Website
External links
- Richard Thompson medal in the greatest race over 100 metres from Trinibeat.com