Dwight Thomas
Athletics competitor

Dwight Thomas

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Athletics competitor
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Male
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Birth:
23 September 1980(Kingston)
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Biography

Introduction

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

Career

He won the bronze medal at the IAAF World Junior Championships in 1998 at the 100 m and gold medal in the 4 × 100 m relay, competed in the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics and finished 5th at the 2005 World Championships. Later in 2005 he placed third at the IAAF World Athletics Final; he was ranked #4 in the world that year by Track & Field News.

Thomas represented Jamaica at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He competed at the 4 × 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.

Thomas started athletics at an early age, competing for Calabar High School. He won gold medals at the CARIFTA Games in both 1998 and 1999.

At the 1998 World Junior Championships 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 Jamaica won the 4 × 100 m relay.

In 1999 Thomas competed at the Junior Pan American Games in Tampa, Florida, winning the 100 m in 10.37 and the 200 m in 20.66; he was also a part of the winning 4 × 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 an All American at the NCAA indoor Championship 2002. Thomas was the runner up at 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 - 13.15 (2011)

Achievements

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Jamaica
1996 Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U-17) San Salvador, El Salvador 2nd 100 m hurdles 13.69   (2.0 m/s)
1st 4 × 100 m relay 42.39
1997 CARIFTA Games (U-20) Bridgetown, Barbados 1st 4 × 100 m relay 39.87
1998 CARIFTA Games (U-20) Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago 1st 100 m 10.46
1st 110 m hurdles 14.53   (-3.0 m/s)
Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U-20) George Town, Cayman Islands 1st 110 m hurdles 14.40   (0.5 m/s)
1st 4 × 100 m relay 39.84
World Junior Championships Annecy, France 3rd 100 m 10.40   (1.6 m/s)
1999 CARIFTA Games (U-20) Fort-de-France, Martinique 1st 100 m 10.47   (-0.4 m/s)
1st 200 m 20.79   (1.3 m/s)
2000 NACAC U-25 Championships Monterrey, Mexico 100m DNF
Olympic Games Sydney, Australia 5th (qf) 200 m 20.58   (0.0 m/s)
2001 World Championships Edmonton, Canada 6th (h) 4 × 100 m relay 40.05
2002 Commonwealth Games Manchester, England 4th 100 m 10.15   (0.2 m/s)
2nd 4 × 100 m relay 38.62
2003 World Championships Paris, France 4th (sf) 100 m 10.19   (0.6 m/s)
4 × 100 m relay DNF
2004 Olympic Games Athens, Greece 7th (sf) 100 m 10.28   (0.2 m/s)
4th (h) 4 × 100 m relay 38.71 SB
2005 World Championships Helsinki, Finland 5th 100 m 10.09   (0.4 m/s)
2007 World Championships Osaka, Japan 2nd 4 × 100 m relay 38.02 (h) WL
2008 Olympic Games Beijing, PR China 1st 4 × 100 m relay 38.31 (h) SB
2009 World Championships Berlin, Germany 7th 110 m hurdles 13.56   (0.1 m/s)
1st 4 × 100 m relay 38.60 (h)
2011 World Championships Daegu, Korea 4th (sf) 110 m hurdles 13.56   (-1.6 m/s)