Bronwyn Thompson (born 29 January 1978 in

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of t ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

) is a

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

er from

. She was the former Commonwealth record holder and holds the Australian record for the long jump. She has been ranked as high as number two in the world. Her greatest achievements include winning gold in the long jump at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

and placing fourth at the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. However Bronwyn has suffered numerous injury setbacks during her career and retired at the end of the 2008/09 Australian domestic seasonBronwyn Thompson retires
/ref> Bronwyn was born in

as the youngest of four children and moved to her current home of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

during primary school. As a child she excelled at both

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

, but eventually chose to focus on athletics. She missed selection on the Australian team for the long jump at the 1996 World Junior Championships, which resulted in her decision to take a break from athletics and concentrate on her studies.Leaps and bounds
/ref> After completing a degree in physiotherapy Bronwyn returned to athletics in 2000, and later that year represented Australia in the long jump at the

2000 Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

, narrowly missing a place in the final. Her performance was hampered by a large tumor which had been discovered in her take off foot, and after the games Bronwyn underwent surgery to have it removed. In 2001 her performances continued to improve, and she broke the Australian long jump record, previously held by

Nicole Boegman Nicole Jane Boegman-Stewart, formerly married Staines (born 5 March 1967 in Sydney) is a retired Australian long jumper. Her personal best jump was 6.87 metres, achieved in August 1988 in Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern ...

. In 2002 Bronwyn improved her Australian record with a jump of 7.00m, which remains her personal best. She was again restricted by injury at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

, finishing sixth in the long jump despite going in as the favourite. At the 2003 World Championships in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, Bronwyn finished seventh in the final, despite further injury concerns. Bronwyn carried good form into the

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

and produced a best jump of 6.96m, but narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing fourth behind a trio of Russian athletes. A week later however, Bronwyn suffered a horrific knee injury at a meet in

Rieti Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabin ...

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, which threatened to end her career. It took more than a year for her to return to competition, but at the

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

she was able to once again produce her best form and dominated the long jump to win gold with a leap of 6.97m. Bronwyn went on to represent Australia at both the 2007 World Championships and the

2008 Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

, but was unable to qualify for the final at either event. Bronwyn has continued to practice as a pediatric physiotherapist in addition to her athletics career, as well as serving as a director of Athletics Australia via her position as chairperson of the Athletes Commission. She has been coached by Gary Bourne since 2000, and was married to husband Jason Chipperfield in 2006.

Achievements

References

External links

*
Athletics Australia profileOfficial website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Bronwyn 1978 births Living people Australian female long jumpers Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia People educated at MacGregor State High School Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games Athletes from Brisbane Sportswomen from Queensland Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games