Obadele Thompson

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Medal record
Men’s athletics
Competitor for 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 Olympic medalist for his island nation.

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.

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, Obadele ran the fastest 100 m race ever. He was clocked at the incredible time of 9.69 s.^[1] 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.

On February 21, 2007, Obadele Thompson announced his engagement to an expecting Marion Jones. The marriage will take place in private and confidential ceremony on February 24, 2007 in North Carolina with close friends and family in attendance.

[edit] Personal bests

Event	Venue	Time	Date
55 m	USA	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	Moskva, 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