Dwight Thomas

Dwight Thomas

Dwight Thomas during the 2010 FBK-Games
Personal information
Nationality	Jamaica
Born	September 23, 1980 (1980-09-23)
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	82 kg (180 lb)
Sport
Sport	Running
Event(s)	100 metres, 200 metres, 110 metres hurdles
College/university team	Clemson University
Club	Adidas Sports
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	100m: 10.00 s (Linz 2005) 200m: 20.29 s (Bydgoszcz 2007) 110m hurdles: 13.16 s (Zürich 2009)
Medal record Men’s Athletics Competitor for Jamaica Olympic Games Gold 2008 Beijing 4×100 m relay World Championships Gold 2009 Berlin 4×100 m relay Pan American Games Bronze 1999 Winnipeg 4×100 m relay CARIFTA Games Junior (U20) Gold 1999 Fort-de-France 100m Gold 1999 Fort-de-France 200m Gold 1998 Port of Spain 100m Gold 1998 Port of Spain 100m hurdles Gold 1997 Bridgetown 4×100 m relay

Dwight Thomas O.D (born September 23, 1980) is a Jamaican sprinter, mainly competing in the 100 metres event and more recently the 110 m hurdles.

He won the bronze medal at the IAAF World Junior Championships in 1998 at the 100 m and gold medal in the 4 x 100 m relay, competed in the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics and finished 5th at the 2005 World Championships. Later in 2005 he won a bronze medal at the 3rd IAAF World Athletics Final and rank number 3 in the world.

Thomas represented Jamaica at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He competed at the 4 x 100 m relay together with Michael Frater, Nesta Carter and Asafa Powell. In their qualification heat they placed first in front of Canada, Germany and China. Their time of 38.31 was the second out of sixteen participating nations in the first round and they qualified for the final. Thomas was replaced by Usain Bolt for the final race and they sprinted to a new world record time of 37.10 seconds, claiming the gold medal.

Dwight started athletics at an early age competing for Calabar High school in Kingston Jamaica winning the 100 m and the 200 m and set two records at the Inter-Secondary School Sports Association National Boys & Girls Athletic Championship held at the National Stadium, Kingston. On March 22, he won the Class 2 100 m in 10.80sec and the Class 2 110 m hurdles in 14.08.[3]

Thomas won the 100 m at CARIFTA Games, winning the Under-20 100 m in 10.42second.

At the 1998 World junior Championship in Annecy, France, Thomas competed for Jamaica winning a bronze medal in the 100 m, the first in his country's history in the event at the time. Three days later winning the 4 x 100 m relay.

In 1999 Thomas Competed at the Junior Pan American Games in Tampa Bay, Florida, winning the 100 m in 10.37sec and the 200 m in 20.65sec and was apart of the winning 4 x 400 m relay team, running the second leg in the finals.

While Thomas attended Clemson University he was the ACC Athlete of the year winning the 60 m and the 60 m hurdles indoor, 100 m and the 200 m outdoor at the ACC Championship and a All American at the NCCA indoor Championship 2002.
Thomas was the second place runner up the NCAA Championship in the 100 m and the 200 m outdoor, held at LSU in Baton Rouge, to Justin Gatlin, who two years later would become the Olympic Champion in the 100 m.

Thomas transferred to the University of Florida in the fall of 2002 to continue his studies and coached by Mick Holloway, the Head Track & Field coach of the Gators. Thomas opted to go pro instead after finding out, he had to sit out his first year after arriving at Florida under a partial release from Clemson University. He would continue his studies at Florida, while being coached and mentored by Coach Holloway.

Personal bests

• 100 metres - 10.00 (2005)
• 200 metres - 20.32 (2007)
• 110 metres hurdles - 13.16 (2009)

External links

• IAAF profile for Dwight Thomas