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Jenny Thompson
At her fourth Olympics, Thompson can break the record of the maximum medals by an American and the total number of medals won by any swimmer.
Born: February 26, 1973
Country: United States of America
Height: 178 cm
Weight: 72.6 kgs
Events: Swimming (50m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly, 4x100m relay)
Olympic Record:
1992: 2nd 100m free, 1st 4x100m free relay, 1st 4x100m Medley relay
1996: 1st 4x100m free relay, 1st 4x200m free relay, 1st 4x100m Medley relay
2000: 3rd 100m free, 1st 4x100m free relay (3:36.61, WR), 1st 4x200m free relay, 1st 4x100m medley relay (3:58.30, WR)
Other Records:
1991 World Championships – 1st 4x100m free relay
1994 World Championships – 2nd 4x100m free relay, 3rd 4x200m free relay, 2nd 4x100m Medley relay
1997 World Championships – 2nd 50m free, 1st 100m free, 1st 100m butterfly, 2nd 4x100m Medley relay
1998 World Championships – 1st100m free, 1st 100m butterfly, 1st4x100m free relay, 2nd 4x200m free relay, 1st 4x100m Medley relay
1999 World Championships – 2nd 50m free, 1st 100m free, 1st 50m butterfly, 1st 100m butterfly
1999 Pan Pacs: 1st100m butterfly (57.88, WR)
2000 World Championships – 1st 50m butterfly, 1st 100m butterfly (56.56, WR), 2nd 100m free, 2nd 4x200m free relay, 3rd 4x100m medley relay
2003 World Championships – 1st 100m butterfly, 2nd 50m butterfly, 3rd 100m free, 1st 4x100m free relay, 2nd 4x100m medley relay
Jenny Thompson is one of the most successful female Olympic athletes in history. Her eight golds which has come from relays are three more than speed skater Bonnie Blair. In Athens, her fourth Olympic Games, Thompson can break three of the most impressive Olympic records that of the maximum golds (nine), career medals by an American, and the total number of medals won by a swimmer.
Thompson first appeared on the international scene as a 14-year-old in 1987, when she won the 50-meter freestyle and placed third in the 100 free at the Pan American Games. She won her first world championship in 1991, as part of the USA's winning 4x100 free relay team, and held the world record in the 50 and 100 free when she participated in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
But she finally made it to the record books in 1992 when she broke the world record in 100m freestyle at the US Olympic Trials. She was favoured to win five medals in the Barcelona Olympics but she could only win two gold in the relays and a silver medal in freestyle.
With her share of highs, the downs soon followed as she could not qualify for the US team in any individual category for the Atlanta Games in 1996. But she achieved some measure of redemption in 1998 when she finally broke through at the world championships, winning two individual and two relay golds.
In August, 1990, she broke Mary T Meagher's 18-year-old world record in the 100-meter butterfly event at the Pan Pacific Championships where she clocked 57.88 seconds to lower the mark of 57.93 set by Meagher in 1981.
A Stanford graduate, Thompson continues to dominate the sport at an age when most swimmers are washed up and is hoping that the Athens Game would be her swan song.
