Daley Thompson
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| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Men’s Athletics | |||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Gold | 1980 Moscow | Decathlon | |
| Gold | 1984 Los Angeles | Decathlon | |
| World Championships | |||
| Gold | 1983 Helsinki | Decathlon | |
| European Championships | |||
| Silver | 1978 Prague | Decathlon | |
| Gold | 1982 Athens | Decathlon | |
| Gold | 1986 Stuttgart | Decathlon | |
| Commonwealth Games | |||
| Competitor for Image:Flag of England.svg England | |||
| Gold | 1978 Edmonton | Decathlon | |
| Gold | 1982 Brisbane | Decathlon | |
| Gold | 1986 Edinburgh | Decathlon | |
| Silver | 1986 Edinburgh | 4x100m | |
Francis Morgan Thompson CBE (born July 30, 1958 in Worcester Park), known commonly as Daley Thompson, is a former decathlete from England. He won the decathlon gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984, and broke the world record for the event four times. Thompson is of Nigerian and Scottish heritage.
Thompson's best score in the decathlon was 8847 points, set in the 1984 Olympic competition – a world record that stood until 1992, when it was bettered by the American athlete Dan O'Brien with a score of 8891. Thomson's 1984 performance is still the UK record. After winning two Olympic decathlon gold medals in 1980 and 1984, Thomson competed for an unprecedented third Olympic decathlon gold at the 1988 Seoul games, but was hampered by injury and could only finish fourth. Thompson was the first athlete to simultaneously hold Olympic, Commonwealth, European and World titles in a single event.
Thompson's rivalry with West German athlete Jürgen Hingsen was legendary in the sport throughout the 1980s. The pair consistently traded world records, but Thompson always had the upper hand in the major events, remaining undefeated in all competitions for nine years between 1979 and 1987.
Thompson was a natural showman who endeared himself to the British public with his irreverent personality, notably when he nervelessly whistled the British national anthem God Save the Queen after receiving his gold medal in 1984. Afterwards, he famously sent a message to friends back home via a TV interview, showing his medal and saying I've got the Big G, boys - the Big G!
Sometimes Thompson's behaviour caused offence, not least when he refused to carry the English flag at the opening ceremony of the 1982 Commonwealth Games, claiming that the effort required participating in the four-and-a-half hour ceremony would reduce his chances of winning his event. He won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award the same year. Making his acceptance speech during the live broadcast of the programme Thompson uttered an obscenity, which caused media comment. Despite this, he was awarded the OBE in 1983, followed by a CBE in 2000.
Thompson's name was used for three officially licensed home computer games by Ocean Software in the 1980s: Daley Thompson's Decathlon, Daley Thompson's Supertest, and Daley Thompson's Olympic Challenge.
On retirement from athletics in 1992, Thompson had periods of association with various football clubs and also had stints as a television presenter. Thompson now works as a fitness trainer and motivational speaker, as well as appearing at corporate events.
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Olympic champions in the all around, pentathlon and decathlon | |
|---|---|
| As all-around | Tom Kiely |
| As pentathlon | Hjalmer Mellander • Jim Thorpe • Eero Lehtonen (twice) |
| As decathlon | Jim Thorpe • Helge Løvland • Harold Osborn • Paavo Yrjölä • James Bausch • Glenn Morris • Bob Mathias (twice) • Milt Campbell • Rafer Johnson • Willi Holdorf • Bill Toomey • Nikolay Avilov • Bruce Jenner • Daley Thompson (twice) • Christian Schenk • Robert Změlík • Dan O'Brien • Erki Nool • Roman Šebrle |
Post-war British Olympic champions in men's athletics |
|---|
| 1956: Chris Brasher (3000 m steeplechase) | 1960: Don Thompson (50 km walk) | 1964: Ken Matthews (20 km walk) | 1964: Lynn Davies (long jump) | 1968: David Hemery (400 m hurdles) | 1980: Allan Wells (100 m) | 1980: Steve Ovett (800 m) | 1980 & 1984: Sebastian Coe (1500 m) | 1980 & 1984: Daley Thompson (decathlon) | 1992: Linford Christie (100 m) | 2000: Jonathan Edwards (triple jump) | 2004: Jason Gardener, Darren Campbell, Marlon Devonish & Mark Lewis-Francis (4 x 100 m relay) |
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Categories: Articles lacking sources from October 2006 | All articles lacking sources | BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners | English athletes | Decathletes | People of Nigerian descent | Athletes at the 1978 Commonwealth Games | Athletes at the 1982 Commonwealth Games | Athletes at the 1986 Commonwealth Games | Athletes at the 1980 Summer Olympics | Athletes at the 1984 Summer Olympics | Athletes at the 1988 Summer Olympics | Commonwealth Games gold medalists for England | Commonwealth Games silver medalists for England | Olympic gold medalists for Great Britain | Stevenage Borough F.C. players | People from London | 1958 births | Living people | Olympic athletes of Great Britain
