Jérôme Cedric Thomas (born 20 January 1979) is a French former

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

, he competed in the

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing up to and including 51 kg (112 lb) for a title fight. Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of boxin ...

(– 51 kg) division as an amateur and as a

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class ...

as a professional.

Amateur boxing career

Thomas won the world championship at the

2001 World Amateur Boxing Championships The Men's 2001 World Amateur Boxing Championships were held in Belfast, Northern Ireland, from June 3 to June 10. The competition was organised by the world governing body for amateur boxing International Boxing Association (AIBA). Medal winn ...

Belfast, Northern Ireland Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. He was runner-up in 2003, losing to Thailand's

Somjit Jongjohor Somjit Jongjohor (, , ; born January 19, 1975) is an amateur Thai boxer best known for winning gold medals in the flyweight division at the 2003 World Amateur Boxing Championships and at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Early life and personal life ...

. Thomas qualified for the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

by ending up in second place at the

2nd AIBA European 2004 Olympic Qualifying Tournament The 2nd AIBA European 2004 Olympic Qualifying Tournament was held in Warsaw, Poland from March 30 to April 4, 2004 at the annual Feliks Stamm Boxing Tournament. The top two in each weight category gained entry into the 2004 Summer Olympics T ...

Warsaw, Poland Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at 1.86 million residents within a grea ...

. In 2007, he lost early against European Champion

Georgy Balakshin Georgy Ruslanovich Balakshin (; born March 6, 1980, in Antonovka, near Nyurba, Sakha Republic) is an Olympic boxer from Russia best known for winning the European title three times. Career Balakshin won the gold medal in 2002 and defended ...

Olympic career

He represented his native country at three consecutive

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

(

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

), winning a

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

(2000), and a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

(2004). At the 2008 Summer Olympics he lost in the first round.

Personal life

He was born with a condition,

Poland syndrome Poland syndrome is a birth defect characterized by an underdeveloped Pectoralis major, chest muscle and symbrachydactyly, short webbed fingers on one side of the body. There may also be short ribs, less fat, and breast and nipple abnormalities o ...

: his left hand is smaller than the right one, his left arm is shorter than the right one, and he has almost no left pectoral muscle.

Olympic results

Professional boxing record

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Jerome 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Saint-Quentin, Aisne Flyweight boxers Boxers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for France Olympic silver medalists for France Olympic bronze medalists for France Olympic medalists in boxing French male boxers AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for France Competitors at the 2001 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in boxing 20th-century French sportsmen