Kishane Thompson

Kishane Thompson (born 17 July 2001) is a Jamaican track and field athlete who competes as a sprinter.^[2] He won the silver medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the 100 metres event.

Kishane Thompson

Thompson at the 2024 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Born	(2001-07-17) 17 July 2001 (age 24) Mitchell Town, Jamaica
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Weight	85 kg (187 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event	Sprint
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	60 m: 6.48 s (Spanish Town, 2025) 100 m: 9.75 s (Kingston, 2025)
Medal record Men's athletics Representing  Jamaica Olympic Games 2024 Paris 100 m

Career

A member of the MVP Track Club, Thompson competed at the Jamaican Championships in June 2023, and ran 9.91 seconds for the 100 metres in his qualifying heat.^[3] However, he pulled-out of the competition prior to the semi-final. This was pre-planned, his coach Stephen Francis explained that due to a number of injuries in previous years he had a schedule to avoid multiple-round running that year.^[4]

Thompson made his Diamond League debut competing in the 100 metres in Monaco on 21 July 2023, running 10.04 seconds to finish fifth.^[5] In September 2023, he lowered his 100 metres personal best to 9.85 seconds to finish second at the Diamond League event in Xiamen, China.^[6][7] At his last Diamond league match he ran 9.87 seconds to finish fourth in Eugene, Oregon.

On 27 June 2024, he ran 9.82 seconds for the 100 metres in the opening round at the Jamaican Olympic trials in Kingston, Jamaica.^[8] In the subsequent final, he ran a new personal best of 9.77 seconds to win the Jamaican national title.^[9]

At the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thompson won silver behind Noah Lyles. Thompson and Lyles finished with the exact same time of 9.79 seconds, with Lyles ultimately awarded the gold medal by a margin of five-thousandths of a second after a photo finish.^[10]

The close finish led to a heated debate among sports enthusiasts and analysts. Many argued that the race was a "dead heat" and that the gold medal should have been shared between the two athletes since their times were identical. The confusion was further amplified when notable sports broadcasters, including NBC, initially reported that Thompson had won the race.^[11][12]

In January 2025, he set a 60 metres personal best of 6.48 seconds at the Central Hurdles, Relays & Field Events Meet at the GC Foster College in St. Catherine. The time places him fifth on the Jamaican all-time list and was recorded into a –2.1 m/s headwind.^[13]

He opened his 2025 outdoor season with second place in the 100m at the 2025 Shanghai Diamond League, running a time of 9.99 seconds.^[14] He ran 9.88 seconds on 7 June 2025, at the Racers Grand Prix, a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting, in Kingston, Jamaica.^[15] At the 2025 Jamaican Athletic Championships, Thompson ran 9.80 seconds (+0.4 m/s) in winning his semi-final and then he won the final in a new personal best of 9.75 seconds (+0.8 m/s), moving him to sixth on the all-time top list.^[16] He ran 9.85 seconds to win the 100 metres at the 2025 Prefontaine Classic on 5 July.^[17]