Jenny Thompson
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| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Women's Swimming | |||
Competitor for  United States |
|||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Gold | 1992 Barcelona | 4x100 m freestyle relay | |
| Gold | 1992 Barcelona | 4x100 m medley relay | |
| Silver | 1992 Barcelona | 100 m freestyle | |
| Gold | 1996 Atlanta | 4x100 m freestyle relay | |
| Gold | 1996 Atlanta | 4x200 m freestyle relay | |
| Gold | 1996 Atlanta | 4x100 m medley relay | |
| Gold | 2000 Sydney | 4x100 m freestyle relay | |
| Gold | 2000 Sydney | 4x200 m freestyle relay | |
| Gold | 2000 Sydney | 4x100 m medley relay | |
| Bronze | 2000 Sydney | 100 m freestyle | |
| Silver | 2004 Athens | 4x100 m freestyle relay | |
| Silver | 2004 Athens | 4x100 m Medley Relay | |
| World Championships | |||
| Gold | 1991 Perth | 4 x 100 m freestyle relay | |
| Gold | 1998 Perth | 100 m freestyle | |
| Gold | 1998 Perth | 100 m butterfly | |
| Gold | 1998 Perth | 4 x 100 m freestyle relay | |
| Gold | 1998 Perth | 4 x 100 m medley relay | |
| Gold | 2003 Barcelona | 100 m butterfly | |
| Gold | 2003 Barcelona | 4 x 100 m freestyle relay | |
| Silver | 1994 Rome | 4 x 100 m freestyle relay | |
| Silver | 1994 Rome | 4 x 100 m medley relay | |
| Silver | 1998 Perth | 4 x 200 m freestyle relay | |
| Silver | 2003 Barcelona | 50 m butterfly | |
| Silver | 2003 Barcelona | 4 x 100 m medley relay | |
| Bronze | 2003 Barcelona | 100 m freestyle | |
| World Championships - Short Course | |||
| Gold | 1997 Gothenburg | 100 m freestyle | |
| Gold | 1997 Gothenburg | 100 m butterfly | |
| Gold | 1997 Gothenburg | 4 x 100 m medley relay | |
| Gold | 1999 Hong Kong | 100 m freestyle | |
| Gold | 1999 Hong Kong | 50 m butterfly | |
| Gold | 1999 Hong Kong | 100 m butterfly | |
| Gold | 1999 Hong Kong | 4 x 100 m medley relay | |
| Gold | 2000 Athens | 50 m butterfly | |
| Gold | 2000 Athens | 100 m butterfly | |
| Gold | 2004 Indianapolis | 50 m butterfly | |
| Gold | 2004 Indianapolis | 4 x 100 m freestyle relay | |
| Silver | 1997 Gothenburg | 50 m freestyle | |
| Silver | 1999 Hong Kong | 50 m freestyle | |
| Silver | 2000 Athens | 100 m freestyle | |
| Silver | 2000 Athens | 4 x 200 m freestyle relay | |
| Silver | 2004 Indianapolis | 4 x 100 m medley relay | |
| Bronze | 2000 Athens | 4 x 100 m medley relay | |
| Bronze | 2004 Indianapolis | 100 m butterfly | |
| Pan American Games | |||
| Gold | 1987 Indianapolis | 50 m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1987 Indianapolis | 4x100 m Freestyle | |
| Bronze | 1987 Indianapolis | 100 m Freestyle | |
| Pan Pacific Championships | |||
| Gold | 1989 Tokyo | 50 m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1991 Edmonton | 50 m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1997 Fukuoka | 100 m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1997 Fukuoka | 100 m Butterfly | |
| Gold | 1997 Fukuoka | 4x100 m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1997 Fukuoka | 4x200 m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1997 Fukuoka | 4x100 m Medley | |
| Gold | 1999 Sydney | 50 m Freestyle | |
| Gold | 1999 Sydney | 100 m Freestyle | |
| Silver | 1989 Tokyo | 100 m Freestyle | |
| Silver | 1997 Fukuoka | 50 m Freestyle | |
Jennifer ("Jenny") Beth Thompson (born February 26, 1973) is a former swimmer, and one of the most decorated Olympians in history, winning twelve medals, including eight golds, while representing the United States of America in the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 Summer Olympics.
Thompson, a Massachusetts native who calls Dover, New Hampshire her hometown, began swimming for the Seacoast Swimming Association under coaches Amy and Mike Parratto. She first appeared on the international scene as a 14-year-old in 1987, when she won the 50-meter freestyle and placed third in the 100 m freestyle at the Pan American Games. She won her first world championship in 1991, as part of the USA's winning 4x100 freestyle relay team, and held the world record in the 50 m and 100 m freestyle when she participated in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.
Thought to be at the height of her competitive career at the time, Thompson was expected to win up to five gold medals at those Olympics. However, she failed to qualify for the final in the 50 m freestyle, and finished second in the 100 m, where she was beaten by Zhuang Yong of China. Thompson won two gold medals as part of the 4x100 m free and 4x100 m medley teams. Considerable controversy was raised after the 100 m freestyle when the U.S. team speculated on the loose doping policy standards in Barcelona -- at that time the event winner did not have a mandatory doping test -- only the second and fourth-place finishers were tested, based on a random draw. Thompson and her teammates believed that the Olympic champion should be tested and that rule was changed a few months later when 9 members of the Chinese swimming team tested positive for steroid use.
Thompson continued her career as a part of the U.S. team and a member of the Stanford University team, and continued to rank among the world's best swimmers for the next four years. During Thompson's four years at Stanford, she was a member of four NCAA championship teams, considered to be some of the most dominant collegiate teams in NCAA history. During that time, Thompson amassed nineteen individual and relay NCAA titles. However, a poor performance at the 1996 Olympic Trials kept her from competing in any individual event at that year's Games in Atlanta. She redeemed herself there with three more relay golds, in the 4x100 m freestyle and medley and the 4x200 m freestyle relays.
Between 1997 and 1999, Thompson won eight more world championship titles, including three in a row in the 100 m freestyle. At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia she won a bronze in the 100 m freestyle and was fifth in the 100 m butterfly. But in the relay events, she swam the anchor leg in helping the USA defend its titles in the 4x100 m freestyle and the 4x200 m freestyle relays. She also swam the butterfly leg in the winning 4x100 m relays. The 4x100 free and medley teams set new world records in the process.
At the World Championships that year, she broke the world record in the 100 m butterfly for the fourth time, winning a qualifying heat in a time of 56.56 en route to a gold medal in the event.
Thompson seemingly retired from competition after the 2000 season with 10 Olympic medals, eight gold, one silver and one bronze, and 12 gold medals at World Championships. In 2001, Thompson moved to New York City to begin medical school at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. However, while attending medical school, she made a heroic return to competition during the summer of 2002 at the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Yokohama, Japan. Thompson won five medals in two days, setting a career-best time in winning the 50 freestyle. At the 2003 World Championships, she would win five medals, including two gold.
At age 31, Thompson was the oldest member of the 2004 U.S. Swimming and Diving team, competing in her fourth Olympics in Athens, Greece. She was the anchor member of the 400-meter freestyle relay, where she helped set a national record of 3:36.39 and finished with a silver medal. She gained another silver medal as a member of the 400-meter medley relay. She would end her Olympic career with eight gold and twelve total medals, the most for any U.S. Olympian in history.
In 2006, Thompson received a medical degree from Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. She interned at New York City's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and she is currently working as an anesthesiologist at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital.[1]
Thompson was the 1993 and 1998 USA Swimming Swimmer of the Year. She ranked as the 62nd greatest female athlete of all time in a 1999 poll conducted by Sports Illustrated. She was named by the Swimming World magazine as the Female World Swimmer of the Year in 1999. She was the Women's Sports Foundation's Athlete of the Year in 2000.
[edit] External links
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Mary T. Meagher |
Women's 100 metre butterfly world record holder (long course) August 23, 1999 – May 27, 2000 |
Succeeded by Inge de Bruijn |
Preceded by Ayari Aoyama |
Women's 100 metre butterfly world record holder (short course) April 19, 1997 – January 26, 2002 |
Succeeded by Martina Moravcová |
| Preceded by Martina Moravcová |
Women's 100 metre individual medley world record holder (short course) January 16, 1999 – April 2, 1999 |
Succeeded by Martina Moravcová |
| Preceded by Martina Moravcová |
Women's 100 metre individual medley world record holder (short course) April 2, 1999 – November 23, 2002 |
Succeeded by Natalie Coughlin |
| Awards | ||
Preceded by Claudia Poll |
World Swimmer of the Year 1998 |
Succeeded by Penny Heyns |
| Preceded by Summer Sanders |
World American Swimmer of the Year 1993 |
Succeeded by Allison Wagner |
| Preceded by Kristine Quance |
World American Swimmer of the Year 1998 – 1999 |
Succeeded by Brooke Bennett |
