Richard "Torpedo" Thompson (born 7 June 1985) is a sprinter from

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

who specializes in the 100 metres. His personal best of 9.82 seconds, set in June 2014, was one of the top ten fastest of all time, and a national record. In the 200 meters, he has the fourth fastest time by a Trinidad and Tobago athlete. Thompson studied at Louisiana State University (LSU) and broke the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) indoor 60 metres record in 2008, his final season of collegiate athletics. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Thompson was the

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, ...

ist in the 100 meters, running a then personal best of 9.89 seconds, and the gold medalist in the 4 × 100 meters relay along with Emmanuel Callender, Keston Bledman and

Marc Burns __NOTOC__ Marc Burns (born 7 January 1983) is an athlete from Trinidad and Tobago specializing in the 100 metres and the 4 x 100 metres relay. Participating in the 2004 Summer Olympics, he was disqualified from his 100 metres heat due to a false ...

. He also won the silver medal in the 4x100 meters at the 2012 Olympics with the same team he competed in the 2008 Olympics with. Also in the 2012 Olympics, he finished 6th following the disqualification of Tyson Gay in the final of the 100 meters. Thompson is a five time

national champion. His current personal best of 9.82 was set at the 2014 Trinidad and Tobago national championships. In 2017, fellow sprinter and

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

men's relay gold medalist Nesta Carter was sanctioned by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

for doping at the 2008 event, retroactively awarding the Trinidad and Tobago team which included Thompson Olympic Gold.

Early life

Born on 7 June 1985 in Cascade,

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...

, Thompson is the last of four children of Ruthven and Judith Thompson. He attended

Queen's Royal College Queen's Royal College (St Clair, Port of Spain, St.Clair, Trinidad), referred to for short as QRC, or "The College" by alumni, is a secondary school in Trinidad and Tobago. Originally a boarding school and grammar school, the Secularity, secular c ...

in Port of Spain where he was coached by Ashwin Creed. He competed at the 2004 Hampton Games running a time of 10.65 in the 100 meters.

Amateur career

He ran for

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

as a member of the LSU Tigers track and field team and set NCAA Indoor record in the 60 metres in 2008. That year he won the NCAA Men's Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year Award and the SEC Men's Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year award.

Professional career

In his first World Championships in Athletics in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

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 Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, 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 Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

. His 60 metres best is 6.51 s, achieved in March 2008 in Fayetteville. He won the relay

gold medal A gold medal is a 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. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

at the 2008 Central American and Caribbean Championships with Trinidad and Tobago. In the

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

, 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 Tyson Gay (born August 9, 1982) is a retired American track and field sprint (running), sprinter who competed in the 100 metres, 100 and 200 metres, 200 meters. His 100 m personal best of 9.69 seconds is the United States records in track ...

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 Usain St. Leo Bolt (; born 21 August 1986) is a Jamaican retired sprinter who is widely regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time. He is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, ...

(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

he also competed at the

4 × 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 must begin in the same stagger as for the indiv ...

. In their qualification heat, they placed first in front of Japan, the Netherlands and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. 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 Jamaican team, winning the

. In 2022, Thompson and his teammates received the gold medal due to Jamaica's Nesta Carter testing positive for the prohibited substance methylhexaneamine. 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 The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15 to 23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenbu ...

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

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. In August, Thompson broke the national record with a run of 9.85 s at the 2011 national championships. The achievement, which ranked him ninth fastest in all-time lists, eclipsed Ato Boldon's record by 0.01 seconds. Despite this form, he failed to make the 100 m final at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in the ...

, being eliminated in the semis, although he did anchor the relay team to fifth place in the final. At the 2012 national championships, he had his win streak beaten by Keston Bledman and had to settle for second with his time of 9.96 seconds. In the 2012, 100 m Olympic final, he gained the distinction of becoming the first man to break ten seconds and finish in seventh place. However, upon the disqualification of

due to doping, Thompson was promoted to sixth place. During the 2014 national championships, he won the finals, improving the national record with a run of 9.82 s, becoming one of the 10 fastest 100 m runners ever.

Major competition record

¹Disqualified in the final

Personal bests

* 60 m and 200 m taken from IAAF profile * 100 m taken from NAAA TT WebsiteNAAATT Events & Results 2011 – Sagicor/NAAA Open Championships – Men 100 Meter Dash
NAAA. Retrieved on 2011-08-13.

Track records

As of 24 September 2024, Thompson holds the following track records for

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

. * The windspeed data for the Clermont, Florida run is not available but since Thompson’s PB is 9.82 and the time for the Clermont run was faster than this at 9.74, the windspeed must have been greater than two metres per second. The windspeed at Clermont has been known to exceed five metres per second.

Notes

References

External links

Richard Thompson medal in the greatest race over 100 metres
from Trinibeat.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Richard 1985 births Living people Trinidad and Tobago male sprinters 21st-century Trinidad and Tobago sportsmen Olympic athletes for Trinidad and Tobago Olympic silver medalists for Trinidad and Tobago Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Trinidad and Tobago World Athletics Championships medalists Pan American Games competitors for Trinidad and Tobago Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 Pan American Games LSU Tigers track and field athletes Alumni of Queen's Royal College, Trinidad Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Trinidad and Tobago Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic gold medalists for Trinidad and Tobago IAAF Continental Cup winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners Diamond League winners Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in athletics