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Games of the XXX Olympiad
Ten current and former members of the LSU Track & Field program representing four countries from around the world made the trip to London, England, to compete in the 2012 Olympic Games in the most prestigious competition the sport has to offer. They certainly made their school proud with their performance in London once again as LSU’s 10 athletes ranked No. 5 for Olympic representation among all programs in collegiate track and field.
Led by the performance of medalists Ade AlleyneForte and Richard Thompson of Trinidad & Tobago and Samantha Henry of Jamaica, the Tigers and Lady Tigers were well-represented with 10 athletes competing at the Games of the XXX Olympiad held in London, England, in the summer of 2012.
Following his Olympics debut in 2008 in which he captured a pair of silver medals for his nation in the 100-meter dash and 4x100-meter relay, Thompson became the most decorated Olympian in the history of LSU athletics when he anchored his country to the silver medal in the 4x100 relay to claim a third Olympic medal as one of the world’s bright young sprint stars.
In what proved to be the fastest relay race in history, Thompson anchored a Trinidad & Tobago team that also featured Keston Bledman, Marc Burns and Emmanuel Callender to a second-place finish with a run of 38.12 seconds in the final in London. Jamaica became the first relay team in history to break 37 seconds in breaking its own world record with a gold-medal-winning run of 36.84. The United States finished second in the race, but was later stripped of its silver medal by the International Olympic Committee.
That performance earned Thompson the distinction of being LSU’s first athlete regardless of sport to win three Olympic medals in a career as he now owns three silver medals from the Olympic Games.
Not only that, but Thompson also lined up in the 100-meter final for the second-straight time as he crossed the finish line in seventh place with a 9.98 clocking after taking the silver medal with a run of 9.89 in 2008. Jamaica’s Usain Bolt defended his Olympic gold medal with an Olympic record of 9.63, and Jamaican Yohan Blake struck silver in 9.75 with American Justin Gatlin taking the bronze in 9.79.
Like Thompson, Alleyne-Forte helped Trinidad & Tobago capture a bronze medal while running the third leg for his country in the 4x400-meter relay final. While making his Olympics debut following an All-American senior season with the Tigers, Alleyne-
DID YOU KNOW? Former Tiger sprinter Richard Thompson is the most decorated track & field Olympian in school history. Thompson’s three Olympic medals won in 2008 and 2012 also equal the most of any other LSU athlete in history regardless of sport.
Forte split 45.44 as he joined with Lalonde Gordon, Jarrin Solomon and Deon Lendore in setting a national record of 2 minutes, 59.40 seconds to finish behind only the Bahamas (2:56.72) and United States (2:57.05) on the medal podium.
Also claiming a medal in her Olympics debut was former Lady Tiger standout Samantha Henry as she ran the leadoff leg for the Jamaicans in the qualifying round of the 4x100-meter relay. Jamaica had a silvermedal-winning second-place finish in the Olympic final.
With its athletes winning three medals during the competition in London, members of the LSU Track & Field program have now won 16 medals all-time with their performance at the Olympic Games. Since 400meter hurdler Glenn “Slats” Hardin won a silver medal in Los Angeles, California, in 1932 and a gold medal in Berlin, Germany, in 1936, the Tigers and Lady Tigers have won six gold medals, six silver medals and four bronze medals all-time at the Olympic Games.
Three other Lady Tigers also lined up in Olympic finals during the competition in London in 2012 as hurdler Lolo Jones of the United States and sprinters Kelly Baptiste and Semoy Hackett of Trinidad & Tobago proved themselves among the world’s premier performers in their events.
Jones nearly earned her place on the medal podium in her second Olympics appearance after earning a fourth-place finish in the final of the women’s 100-meter hurdles. Baptiste, the reigning World Championships bronze medalist in the women’s 100-meter dash, took sixth place in the deepest 100-meter field of the 2012 campaign, while Hackett crossed the finish line in eighth place in the 200-meter final in her Olympics debut in London.
Also making their second career appearance at the Olympic Games were former Lady Tigers Neisha Bernard-Thomas (Grenada) in the 800 meters and Nickiesha Wilson (Jamaica) in the 400 hurdles, while Tiger seniors Damar Forbes (long jump) and Riker Hylton (4x400 relay) made their Olympic debuts for Team Jamaica.
OLYMPICS PARTICIPATION
SCHOOL Auburn Florida State Arkansas Southern California LSU Florida Oregon Texas ATHLETES 12 12 11 11 10 10 10 10
LSU ATHLETES AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES
ATHLETE Ade Alleyne-Forte (Trinidad & Tobago) Kelly Baptiste (Trinidad & Tobago) Neisha Bernard-Thomas (Grenada) Damar Forbes (Jamaica) Semoy Hackett (Trinidad & Tobago) Samantha Henry (Jamaica) Riker Hylton (Jamaica) Lolo Jones (United States) Richard Thompson (Trinidad & Tobago) Nickiesha Wilson (Jamaica) EVENT 3rd-4x400 Relay 6th-100 Meters, 4x100 Relay 16th-800 Meters 18th-Long Jump 16th-100 Meters, 8th-200 Meters, 4x100 Relay 2nd-4x100 Relay 4x400 Relay 4th-100 Hurdles 7th-100 Meters, 2nd-4x100 Relay 13th-400 Hurdles
