BEIJING -- With a silver medal in the men’s 100-meter dash already in his back pocket, Richard Thompson could have been satisfied with his performance in his Olympics debut and returned to his native Trinidad and Tobago a national hero. And rightly so.
After all, Thompson became just the third athlete from Trinidad and Tobago to earn a spot on the medal stand in the 100 meters in the 112-year history of the modern Olympic Games.
His name will forever be mentioned in the same breath as national treasures Hasely Crawford and Ato Boldon as the top sprinters to ever wear the red, white and black. Crawford won Olympic gold in Montreal in 1976, while Boldon brought home two Olympic medals during his pro career, winning bronze in Atlanta in 1996 and silver in Sydney in 2000.
But if Thompson has been known for anything in his four years at LSU, it’s that he is committed to the success of the team, and he showed that one last time at the “Bird’s Nest†National Stadium on Friday by anchoring Trinidad’s 4x100-meter relay team to a silver medal.
While lining up in lane 4 with the heavily-favored foursome from Jamaica running to the outside, teammates Keston Bledman, Marc Burns and Emmanuel Callander had clean exchanges and got the stick around to Thompson on the anchor when the Tiger star raced to the finish line in a time of 38.06 seconds to win his second silver medal of the games.
It also marked the second time in these Olympic Games that Thompson ran in a world-record race with Jamaica’s foursome winning gold in 37.10.
The race was neck-and-neck between Jamaica and Trinidad until Michael Frater handed the baton to Olympic 100-meter and 200-meter champion Usain Bolt at the second exchange. After handing off to Asafa Powell on the anchor, Jamaica put the race out of reach and shattered the 16-year-old world record of 37.40 previously set by the United States at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.
For Thompson, it was the end of a truly life-changing season in which he dominated the sprints in the collegiate ranks before standing toe-to-toe with the best sprinters in the world and coming out with two Olympic silver medals for Trinidad and Tobago in his debut.
“Richard is the kind of student-athlete who embodies everything that is great about being at LSU competing in the sport of track and field,†said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “He is one of the hardest workers and one of the easiest athletes to coach that I’ve ever worked with, and I have no doubt that his future is very bright in this sport. He’s a true champion in every sense of the word.
“He will now begin a new chapter in his life, and I can’t think of a better way for him to start than with the kind of performance he had this week at the Olympic Games. It’s truly remarkable.â€ÂÂÂÂÂÂ
Thompson’s relay run also marks the end of the 2008 Olympic Games for LSU’s 12 track and field athletes as the university was represented by more athletes than any other collegiate program in the sport. With athletes like Thompson leading the way, the Tigers and Lady Tigers are sure to make their mark once again when the Olympics head to London in 2012.
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