Jean Thompson
Jean Thompson (married Barker ; born October 15, 1910 in Toronto , † 1976 ) was a Canadian athlete .
She grew up in Penetanguishene in southern Ontario . In 1927 she was third at the Canadian Championships over 100 m and in the high jump . Her trainer Lucien A. Wendling recognized her talent for endurance and prepared her for the 800-meter run , which was part of the program for the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam.
On July 2, 1928, she was Canadian champion over this distance in Halifax and thus qualified for the games. Her time of 2: 21.4 min would have been a world record three weeks earlier, because only the Swede Inga Gentzel (2: 20.4 min on June 16, 1928) and the German Lina Radke (2: 19.6 min on June 1 , 1928) . July 1928) were previously faster.
In Amsterdam she was injured a week before the competition, but still competed with a bandaged leg and won her preliminary run in 2: 23.2 minutes. In the final she set her personal best with 2: 21.4 min and was fourth behind Radke (2: 16.8 min), the Japanese Kinue Hitomi (2: 17.6 min) and Gentzel (2: 17.8 min ), all of which remained below the old world record.
Web links
- Penetanguishene's First Olympic Star (PDF; 1.1 MB) by David Dupuis on the Penetanguishene Sports Hall of Fame website
- Jean Thompson in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Thompson, Jean |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Barker, Jean |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Canadian middle distance runner |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 15, 1910 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Toronto |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1976 |