Complete Coverage of LSU athletes in Bejing
BEIJING -- No one would have ever guessed that LSU senior Richard Thompson was making his Olympic debut during Friday's 100-meter qualifying at the National Stadium as the Trinidad and Tobago star cruised to victories in both his opening round and quarterfinal heats. Thompson won the third of 10 first-round heats in 10.24 seconds before cruising to the finish line ahead of American Tyson Gay (10.09) with a time of 9.99 in the second of five quarterfinal races. Of the 40 sprinters advancing to the quarterfinals, Thompson's time was second only to Jamaican world-record holder Usain Bolt, who jogged to the finish line in 9.92. This marks the third time this season that Thompson has broken the 10-second barrier in the 100-meter dash after setting a new personal best and breaking LSU's school record with a 9.93 in the SEC final on May 18 and winning the NCAA Mideast Regional title in 9.97 on May 31.
Thompson is scheduled to run in the second of two semifinal heats Saturday at 7:05 a.m. CT as the top four finishers in each race will advance to an eight-man final set for 9:30 a.m. He will line up alongside the likes of Gay, Jamaican Asafa Powell (10.02), American Darvis Patton (10.04) and Churandy Martina of the Netherlands Antilles, who also ran a 9.99 in the quarterfinal round. "Richard looked very smooth running his first two 100-meter races today. You would never know that this is his first time running at the O "Today was one track meet with two good races, and now tomorrow is a new day and a new track meet. When he came out of the tunnel, he said he was looking forward to tomorrow's meet." Thompson was not the only former LSU standout to advance beyond the qualifying stages on the first day of the athletics competition at these Olympic Games as middle distance runner Neisha Bernard-Thomas of Grenada set a new personal best and national record in her first-round race of the 800 meters with a time of 2 minutes, 0.9 seconds to finish fifth in her heat. Bernard-Thomas' heat was so fast that her time was seventh-best overall in the first round as she easily advanced to the third of three semifinal races on Saturday at 6:48 a.m. CT. Former Lady Tiger Marian Burnett (2:02.02) was not as fortunate as Bernard-Thomas in the first round of qualifying in the 800 meters as she placed fifth in her heat and 23rd overall while running for the tiny South American country of Guyana. LSU great and Jamaican-born Isa Phillips wrapped up the first day of qualifying for the Tigers by placing third in the fourth of four opening round heats of the men's 400-meter hurdles with a time of 49.55. The top three finishers in each heat and athletes with the next four fastest times have advanced to a two-heat semifinal scheduled to run Saturday at 8:15 a.m.
lympic Games," said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. "He's a very relaxed and confident runner right now, and he did exactly what he needed to do to move into the semifinal round. He's off to a great start in these games.