Ben Thompson (born September 13, 1982) is an American para-archer since 2014. As a

compound archery In modern archery, a compound bow is a bow that uses a levering system, usually of cables and pulleys, to bend the limbs. In general, compound bows are widely used in target practice and hunting. The pulley/cam system grants the user a mechan ...

competitor, Thompson won bronze at the

2015 Parapan American Games The 2015 Parapan American Games, officially the V Parapan American Games and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 ParaPan-Am Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities, celebrated in the tradition of the Pa ...

. At the

World Para Archery Championships In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

, Thompson was first in 2017 and 2019 in the men's open compound. During the men's open compound team events with the United States, Thompson was first in 2015 and third in 2017. He also competed at the

2022 World Para Archery Championships The 13th World Para Archery Championships took place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from 19 to 27 February 2022. Originally the event was to take place in 2021 but it was delayed until 2022 by COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first time the switch to ...

and

2022 World Games The 2022 World Games were an international multi-sport event held from July 7 to 17, 2022, in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. They were the 11th World Games, a multi-sport event featuring disciplines of Olympic sports and other competitions ...

. While competing with the American men's compound team, Thompson and his teammates broke the record during the 2017 Juan Enrique Barrios Cup and the 2019 World Archery Para Championships. Between 2019 and 2021, Thompson reached number one twice on the

World Archery Rankings The World Archery Rankings is a ranking system developed by the World Archery Federation for international competitive archery. It is calculated using a points system and published following major World Archery tournaments. The ranking system was ...

. Thompson was named the Male Paralympic Athlete of the Year for the

United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...

in 2019. The following year, he won the Para men category for 2019 from

World Archery The World Archery Federation (WA, also and formerly known as FITA from the French ''Fédération Internationale de Tir à l'Arc'') is the governing body of the sport of archery. It is based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is composed of 156 nation ...

Early life and education

Thompson was born in Buffalo, Illinois on September 13, 1982, and spent his childhood at a farm. Thompson was on several sports teams while attending high school. During his teens, he participated in

3D archery Modern competitive archery involves shooting arrows at a target for accuracy and precision from a set distance or distances. This is the most popular form of competitive archery worldwide and is called target archery. A form particularly popula ...

events. He went to

Lincoln Land Community College Lincoln Land Community College is a public community college in Springfield, Illinois. It has extended branches in different locations, including Beardstown, Jacksonville, Litchfield and Taylorville, Illinois. The main campus is less than half ...

for his post-secondary studies and studied aircraft mechanics.

Career

Aviation and archery

In 2009, Thompson began his career with

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

. Between 2009 and 2019, Thompson focused on the various parts of the

787 Dreamliner The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body jet airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, ...

while in North Charleston, South Carolina. During his time at Boeing, Thompson had a back injury in 2009 after a motorcycle accident. That year, he underwent

rehabilitation Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to: Health * Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished * Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...

and began using a wheelchair. While undergoing medical treatment during 2013, Thompson resumed his archery experience. For USA Archery, he joined their compound Athlete Advisory Council in 2022.

Competitions

Individual

In 2013, Thompson began participating in

. The following year, he went to the USA Archery Arizona Cup and became a para-archer. With

USA Archery The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, Thompson won the men's para compound open event at the National Target Championships during 2019. The following year, he won this event during the 2020 USA Archery Target Nationals. At international events, Thompson won a bronze medal in the men's open compound event held at the

. The following year, Thompson considered ending his archery career when he did not qualify for the

2016 Paralympic Games ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

. As a

competitor, Thompson was third at the men's open compound in 2017. During the late 2010s, Thompson became injured and stopped competing before resuming his archery career in April 2019. That year, Thompson won the men's open compound event at the World Para Archery Championships. Between 2019 and 2021, he was number one on the

twice. During the

, Thompson was seventh in the men's open compound. At the

, Thompson reached the first round of the men's compound event.

Team

During the World Para Archery Championships with the American men's compound open team, Thompson was first in 2015 and third in 2017. While at the 2017 Juan Enrique Barrios Cup, Thompson's 2063 points in the men's compound open team event alongside

Andre Shelby Andre C. Shelby (born December 8, 1966) is a U.S. Paralympic archer and Paralympic and Parapan champion. Shelby was born in Jeffersonville, Indiana in 1966 to Lee and Etta Shelby. He graduated from Jeffersonville High School in 1985. At Jeffers ...

and Kevin Polish made a new world record. With 2091 points, Thompson, Shelby and

Matt Stutzman Matthew Stutzman (born December 10, 1982) is an American archer. He competed at the 2012 and Archery at the 2016 Summer Paralympics – Men's individual compound open, 2016 Paralympics and won a silver medal in 2012. Born without arms, Stutzman ...

broke the men's compound open team record during the World Archery Para Championships in 2019.

Awards and personal life

In 2019, Thompson received the Male Paralympic Athlete of the Year from the

. The following year, Thompson won the Para men category from World Archery for 2019. Outside of archery, he is the parent of a teenager.

References

External links

1982 births American male archers Medalists at the 2015 Parapan American Games Competitors at the 2022 World Games Archers at the 2015 Parapan American Games Living people Sportspeople from Sangamon County, Illinois {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson,_Ben_(archer)