‘I was excited-nervous’ – When Kishane Thompson reflected about dream killer decision

Kishane Thompson explained the difficulties he experienced in the 100m finals at the Paris Olympic Games.

About five months ago, Olympic 100m silver medallist Kishane Thompson would have made history by becoming one of the rare debutants at the quadrennial championship to win gold had it not been for his inexperience.

Little was known about Thompson before 2023. The Jamaican had not featured in global championships save for the Diamond League meetings he participated in that year, meaning the 23-year-old was not favorite heading into the Paris Olympic Games.


Jamaican great Usain Bolt may have been used to winning on track but he has had to endure painful losses off it, going by the multi-million ventures that lost him big money.


While the finals featured the likes of eventual champion Noah Lyles, who competed in Tokyo Olympics and is a six-time world champion, Thompson had no title under his belt. Even though past experience sometimes doesn’t count, his race management and a mixture of excitement and nervousness just before the 100m finals proved costly for the soft-spoken Jamaican.

“I was excited-nervous. Not nervous in the sense I couldn’t control myself. I was nervous and excited to go. But I should’ve been more focused and patient with myself,” Thompson told Olympics.com

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“I didn’t trust myself enough, and my speed, to bring me to the line in the right position I needed to be,” he added.

Thompson seems to have learnt his lessons if his season opener victory in 60m last month is anything to go by. The budding sprinter recovered from a slow start to finish strongly by winning the race.

There’s room for improvement though but all indicators show that 2025 could be Thompson’s breakthrough year since he is the the hope of sprint-mad Jamaica. No Jamaican has tried to match Usain Bolt’s achievements. Bolt is the last Jamaican to win an Olympic gold in the men’s sprints in 2016.