Records are made to be broken, such is nature, but there are some people who will enjoy certain records for a lifetime.
One such person is Obadele Thompson, the first and only Olympic Games medalist for the tiny island of Barbados.
Thompson, an outstanding sprinter, won his bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games when he finished third in the men’s 100m final. He also finished fourth in the 200m final at the same Games.
The three-time Olympian, who made the finals at each of the global showpiece event, has a personal best of 9.87 seconds in the 100m and 19.97 seconds in the 200m. Both remain Barbados national records.
Thompson also holds the indoor 55m world record of 5.99 seconds since 1997. He also had the World Junior 100m World Record of 10.08 seconds, established in 1994.
Obadele Thompson, has been a star performer from his collegiate days, having been an 11-time NCAA All-American and a 16-time Western Athletic Conference champion. The man who would later marry American athletics great Marion Jones, with the union producing two children, also won several Athlete of the Year Awards, including the University of Texas, El Paso Athlete of the Year 1996 and 1997.
The Barbadian was also named US Track and Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association NCAA Division One Male Indoor Athlete of the Year in 1997 and the Stan Bates Western Athletic Conference Male Student-Athlete of the Year in the same year.
