Richard Thompson shot to fame when he claimed a silver medal in the 100m final at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, behind the all-time great Usain Bolt’s then-world record 9.69 seconds.
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.
He ran for Louisiana State University as a member of the LSU Tigers track and field team and set NCAA Indoor record in the 60 meters 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
In his first World Championships in Athletics in Osaka in 2007, Thompson reached the second round but finished eighth in a time of 10.44 seconds
Dubbed the “Torpedo”, Thompson would also win gold as a member of the 4x100m relay team which finished second to the Bolt-led Jamaica team, only for years later to be stripped of the gold medal after Nesta Carter was sanctioned for a doping violation.
In the 2012 100m 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 Tyson Gay due to doping, Thompson was promoted to sixth place
A year later in Berlin, he helped Trinidad and Tobago to a silver medal if the men’s 4x100m relay, and by the time the London Olympic Games rolled around, he was on hand to help his country to another silver medal.
He has a personal best in the 100m at 9.82 seconds and is a five-time Trinidad and Tobago national champion.
