Donald Thomas (high jumper)
![]() Donald Thomas celebrating in Osaka 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nationality | ![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Freeport, Bahamas | 10 July 1984||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 81 kg (179 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Track and field | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event | High jump | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
College team | Auburn Tigers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal best | 2.37 m[2][3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
|
Donald Thomas (born 1 July 1984) is a Bahamian high jumper from Freeport, Bahamas.
Biography
Thomas took up high jump in January 2006 while studying at Lindenwood University in Saint Charles, Missouri, where he played on the University's basketball team.[4] He tried high jump for the first time when challenged by members of the track and field team, who were reacting to his claims about his ability to slam dunk. Thomas cleared 6'6" (1.98 m) on his first attempt and 7' (2.13 m) on his third ever jump. The athletes then sought the head track coach Lane Lohr, who entered Thomas in a meet two days later at Eastern Illinois University. At the meet he cleared 7'3.25" (2.22 m), on his seventh-ever jump.[5][6]
In March 2006, Thomas placed second at the 2006 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships with a height of 7'1.75" (2.18 m).[7] Later that month, just two months after taking up high jump, he finished fourth at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne with a jump of 2.23 m. Not yet experienced at high jump, Thomas gained notoriety at the Commonwealth Games for not measuring his run-up, competing in shoes without spikes, and putting his arms behind his back to land on the mat as if breaking his fall.[5][8][9]
During the 2007 indoor season he cleared 2.30 metres for the first time and in March jumped 2.33 metres in Fayetteville, Arkansas.[10] In July 2007 he cleared 2.35 metres in Salamanca, Spain. The result was a new personal best and the world season's best at the time.[4][11] He then won the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan, again with a 2.35 jump. He also won gold at the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Final.[12] That year he also won the IAAF Newcomer of the Year, and the Bahamas Amateur Athletic Association Athlete of the Year.[13]
The Olympics in 2008, however, turned out a major disappointment for Thomas. He made only 2.20 in the qualifying round and finished 21st overall.[14]
Thomas won the gold medal in the high jump at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India. In the final he was the only competitor to clear the height of 2.32, which he managed at the first attempt. The silver medal in the event was won by his countryman Trevor Barry. In 2011, he won the gold medal in the high jump at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, again with a height of 2.32.
Thomas competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. In qualification he cleared 2.16, passed on 2.21, then failed to clear 2.26 and did not advance to the final.
Thomas represented the Bahamas at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[1] He made the final for the first time at an Olympic competition and finished in equal 7th place with a jump of 2.29.[3][15]
Competition record
References
- ^ a b "Donald Thomas - athlete profile". rio2016.com. Archived from the original on 2016-08-26. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ "Gyulai István Memorial" (PDF). all-athletics.com. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
- ^ a b "Former Tiger Donald Thomas qualifies for Olympic high jump finals". auburntigers.com. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
- ^ a b Valiente, Emeterio (2007-07-05). "2.35 World lead for Donald Thomas in Salamanca". IAAF.org. Retrieved 2007-07-05.
- ^ a b Epstein, David (2013). The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance. Current. ISBN 978-1-59184-511-9.
- ^ "Donald Thomas is revelation of the year". iaaf.org. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
- ^ "2006 Indoor Track & Field National Championships Results". naia.org. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
- ^ "Donald Thomas (Bahamas) in first major competition clears 2.20m wearing only warm-up training shoes opposed to athletes spikes, Men's High Jump, 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games". gettyimages.ca. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
- ^ "Lindenwood's Thomas Competes at Commonwealth Games". naia.org. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
- ^ Dunaway, James (2007-03-11). "Thomas clears 2.33m, as Hastings blazes women's 400 in 50.80 - NCAA Indoor Champs, Day 2". IAAF.org. Retrieved 2007-07-05.
- ^ "IAAF Top Lists High Jump 2007 (men)".
- ^ Bahamian Thomas wins high jump gold on YouTube
- ^ "Commonwealth Games Biography - Donald Thomas". 8 August 2014. Retrieved 2015-08-18.
- ^ "Donald Thomas Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 2015-09-11. Retrieved 2015-08-18.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ "Men's High Jump - Standings". rio2016.com. Archived from the original on 2016-09-11. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help)
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- 1984 births
- Living people
- Bahamian male high jumpers
- Bahamian men's basketball players
- Auburn Tigers men's track and field athletes
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games
- Olympic athletes of the Bahamas
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 Pan American Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2011 Pan American Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 Pan American Games
- Commonwealth Games gold medallists for the Bahamas
- Pan American Games gold medalists for the Bahamas
- Pan American Games silver medalists for the Bahamas
- Pan American Games bronze medalists for the Bahamas
- World Championships in Athletics medalists
- Lindenwood Lions basketball players
- World Championships in Athletics athletes for the Bahamas
- People from Freeport, Bahamas
- Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics
- Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
- Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists
- Competitors at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games
- Competitors at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games