BERLIN, Germany — After sprinting through the first two rounds of qualifying Saturday, LSU great Richard Thompson clocked back-to-back seasonal bests of 9.98 and 9.93 seconds to take fifth place in the 100-meter dash during Sunday’s action at the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics.
Thompson, the reigning Olympic silver medalist from Trinidad & Tobago, arrived in Berlin with a season best effort of 10.01 that ranked No. 12 in the world prior to the meet.
But Thompson showed the form that won him a silver medal at the Olympic Games last summer when he finished third in his semifinal heat with his first sub 10-second time of 2009 at 9.98 before placing fifth in the World Championships final with a seasonal-best time of 9.93.
Thompson has now broken 10 seconds in the 100-meter dash seven times during his career, including his personal best of 9.89 run in the Olympic final a year ago.
“Richard has really started to show a tremendous amount of improvement over the last month or so as we have prepared for the World Championships, and that was certainly evident in his performance today,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “He’s been playing catch up all season long after losing 10 weeks of training following his car accident in Trinidad at the beginning of the year. That really put him behind.
“But he has stayed patient and stayed focused all season to get himself ready to perform when it’s counted the most. To follow up his performance in the Olympics last summer with this kind of performance today proves that he is well on his way to having a great professional career if he continues to work hard.”
Olympic champion Usain Bolt captured the World title in the 100-meter dash in record-setting fashion as he did in Beijing one year ago. The 6-foot-5 Jamaican phenom shattered his own world record in the event with a lightning fast 9.58 clocking in the World Championships final, shattering the time of 9.69 he set in the Olympic final in 2008. Silver medalist Tyson Gay set a new American record of 9.71 to finish runner-up, while Jamaican Asafa Powell took home the bronze medal in 9.84.
Thompson has now run in the two fastest 100-meter races in the history of track and field as he finished runner-up to Bolt in the Olympic final a year ago with his personal-best time of 9.89.
Sunday also marked the first day of qualifying in the women’s 100-meter dash as two former Lady Tigers lined up for the first time at this year’s World Championships and advanced to Monday’s semifinal round.
Kelly Baptiste of Trinidad & Tobago won her opening round heat with a time of 11.42 before clocking an improved time of 11.05 to finish third in her quarterfinal heat and advance to the semifinal. American star Muna Lee will join Baptiste in the semifinal round on Monday as she followed an 11.44 in the first round with a time of 11.13 to advance. The women’s 100-meter semifinal will run at 12:05 p.m. CT on Monday.
Also advancing to the semifinals of this year’s World Championships is Marian Burnett of Guyana as she finished fifth in her opening round heat of the 800 meters with a time of 2 minutes, 3.89 seconds.
Three former LSU stars were eliminated from the competition at the World Championships on Sunday as Isa Phillips of Jamaica finished 10th in the semifinal of the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 48.93, while Walter Davis of the United States went 54 feet, 6 ? inches in the triple jump and Neisha Bernard-Thomas of Grenada ran 2:04.55 in the first-round of qualifying in the 800 meters.