Thompson Anchors Trinidad to Silver in Germany

BERLIN -- Just as he did in his Olympic debut last summer, former LSU sprint star Richard Thompsonanchored Trinidad & Tobago to a silver medal in the 4x100-meter relay during Saturday’s action at the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics at Olympic Stadium.

After winning their qualifying heat with a time of 38.47 seconds on Friday night, Thompson teamed with fellow countrymen Darrel Brown, Marc Burns and Emmanuel Callander to run a new Trinidad & Tobago national record of 37.62 in the final to take the silver medal.

The foursome from Trinidad & Tobago was only beaten by the gold medalists from Jamaica with Steve Mullings, Michael Frater, Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell winning with a time of 37.31.

Thompson has been impressive in his young professional career as he is now a three-time silver medalist in major international competition. He captured a pair of silver medals in the 100-meter dash and 4x100-meter relay at the Olympic Games in Beijing last summer to go along with his silver medal in the 4x100-meter relay at the IAAF World Championships on Saturday.

Thompson just missed earning a spot on the medal stand in the 100 meters this week at the IAAF World Championships as he placed fifth in the event final on Aug. 16 while clocking a seasonal best of 9.93.

“I’m very proud of Richard and all that he has accomplished so early in his professional career, and there is no doubt that his best years are ahead of him,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “He had a little bit of a setback earlier this year with his car accident in Trinidad, but he has bounced back from that to prove that he is one of the best sprinters in the world. That shows what kind of work ethic he has.”

Former Lady Tiger national champion Kelly Baptiste also led Trinidad & Tobago into Saturday’s final of the women’s 4x100 relay after finishing third with a time of 43.22 in its preliminary heat earlier in the day at Olympic Stadium. She then teamed with Reyare Thomas, Ayanna Hutchinson and Semoy Hackett for a time of 43.43 in the final heat to finish seventh at this year’s World Championships.

Former Lady Tiger Muna Lee also ran in the qualifying round of the 4x100-meter relay for the United States on Saturday, but she suffered a severe hamstring injury and had to be carried off the track after she took the stick on the third leg of the race. The U.S. team did not finish the race.

Lee also competed in the 100 meters and 200 meters at this year’s World Championships while earning a fourth-place finish in the 200-meter final and advancing to the semifinal round of the 100-meter sprint.