Editing Obadele Thompson (section)

===Junior athletics===
Obadele began his athletic career at about six years old in Barbados at the Charles F. Broomes Primary School before transferring to Wesley Hall Junior School. However, his talents blossomed at his secondary school, [[Harrison College (Barbados)|Harrison College]], under the tutelage of his physical education teacher, [[Orlando Greene]] (Barbados [[800 metres|800 m]] national record holder). He was also coached by respected Barbadian coaches Frank "Blackie" Blackman and the late Anthony Lovell.

====1990–1993====
Thompson first represented Barbados at age 14, winning the 100 and 200 metres at the 1990 [[Caribbean Union of Teachers]] (CUT) Games in [[Georgetown, Guyana]]. He again showed promise by winning the 100 m in the under-17 age division at the 1991 [[CARIFTA Games]] in [[Port of Spain|Port of Spain, Trinidad]]. The CARIFTA Games is an annual Caribbean junior track and field championship that has produced notable Caribbean sprinters including [[Usain Bolt]], [[Merlene Ottey]] and [[Pauline Davis-Thompson]]. Over the next three years, Thompson dominated the 100 m at the regional junior level, winning four successive CARIFTA Games 100 m titles (twice in both the under-17 and under-20 divisions), and not losing to a Caribbean junior sprinter at this distance since he was 14 years old. In 1993, Thompson became the Barbados national senior 100 m champion, and placed third and second in the 100 and 200 metres, respectively, at the [[Pan American Junior Athletics Championships]] in [[Winnipeg]], Manitoba, Canada. A few weeks later, at only 17 years old, he won his first 100 m title at the 1993 Senior [[Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics|Central American and Caribbean Championships]] (CAC) in [[Cali|Cali, Colombia]], clocking a slightly wind-assisted 10.30 sec. (+2.1&nbsp;m/s wind).

Despite attending one of the top academic high schools in the Caribbean and being among the best sprinters in his age group in the world, he was initially not recruited by any universities because Barbados was then only known for being a top tourist destination and producing [[List of international cricketers from Barbados|outstanding cricketers]], not sprinters. He was also not invited to the top American junior track meets for similar reasons. Not deterred, in early 1993, Thompson contacted Hall of Fame former UTEP head track coach, Bob Kitchens,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ustfccca.org/2016/08/featured/ustfccca-coaches-hall-of-fame-class-of-2016-announced|title=USTFCCCA Coaches Hall of Fame Class of 2016 Announced ::: USTFCCCA|website=www.ustfccca.org|language=en-US|access-date=2018-02-21}}</ref> who had trained [[Nigerians|Nigerian]] sprinter, [[Olapade Adeniken]], to the 1992 NCAA Outdoor 100 and 200 metres titles.

In August 1993, Thompson left Barbados on an [[athletic scholarship]] to become part of UTEP's long legacy of outstanding track and field athletes, which includes: [[Bob Beamon]] ([[1968 Summer Olympics|1968 Olympic]] [[long jump]] champion), [[Suleiman Nyambui]] ([[1980 Summer Olympics|1980 Olympic]] [[5000 metres|5000 m]] silver medalist), [[Bert Cameron]] ([[1983 World Championships in Athletics|1983 World Champion]] in the 400 m), [[Blessing Okagbare]] ([[2008 Summer Olympics|2008 Olympic]] long jump silver medalist), and [[Churandy Martina]] ([[European Athletics Championships|European Champion]] in the 100 and 200 metres).

====1994====
Thompson made an immediate impact on the collegiate scene, while still only 17 years old, he reached the finals at the 1994 NCAA Indoor Championships in the 55 and 200 metres—the only male athlete to do so that year<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://in.milesplit.com/meets/179629/results/312954/formatted#.Wo0OZeZzI2w|title=NCAA DI Indoor Championships – Results|work=MileSplit Indiana|access-date=2018-02-21|language=en}}</ref>—while helping his team finish third overall. He opened his outdoor season before his home crowd at the CARTIFA Games in Barbados, defending his under-20 100 m title in a new meet record (10.33 sec.), and winning the 200 m for the first time (20.71 sec.).  His record-setting 100 m run earned him the Austin Sealy Award for Most Outstanding Performance of the championships. Two weeks later at the Sierra Medical Center/UTEP Invitational in El Paso, Texas, Thompson established his first global mark by equaling the World Junior Record of 10.08 sec. in the 100 m<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-07-21-sp-18381-story.html|title=No Record for 9.96 in 99.96 Meters|last=WHITE|first=MATT|date=1994-07-21|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2018-02-21|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035}}</ref> (broken in 1998 by [[Dwain Chambers]]).

Unfortunately, shortly afterward he sustained his first major injury, a non-displaced fracture in his neck, which went improperly diagnosed for several months. Despite this season-altering injury, Thompson helped UTEP finish second overall at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, as part of the 4 × 100 m and 4 × 400 m relays.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/tfn_pdfs/ncaamenresultsbyyear/1994.pdf|title=1994 NCAA Outdoor Men's Results|website=www.trackandfieldnews.com}}{{Dead link|date=January 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He also won the Jamaica Junior National Championships in the 100 m (as a visiting athlete), the CAC Junior Championships in the 100 and 200 metres, placed fourth in the 100 m at the [[World Junior Championships in Athletics|World Junior Championships]] and was the youngest semifinalist in 100 m at the [[1994 Commonwealth Games|Commonwealth Games]] in [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]], Canada.

====1995====

Obadele completed his final year in the junior (under-20) category by dominating the yearly global 100 m performance list. He twice recorded the fastest junior 100 m time (10.18 sec.) and ran 8 of the 11 fastest junior 100 m times that year. His most memorable victory came in the 100 m invitational race at the Drake Relays in [[Des Moines, Iowa]], where he defeated his idol [[Carl Lewis]] (nine-time Olympic gold medalist), [[Mark Witherspoon]] (member of the 1992 US Olympic 100 m team), and Sam Jefferson (1994 NCAA 100 m champion).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.si.com/vault/1995/05/08/8093937/carl-lewis|title=CARL LEWIS|last=NODEN|first=MERRELL|work=SI.com|access-date=2018-02-21}}</ref>

Internationally, Thompson successfully defended his title in the 100 m at the Senior CAC Championships in [[Guatemala]], while adding the 200 m title in a new championship record of 20.49 sec., which was the third-fastest time by a junior athlete that season. He was the youngest semifinalist in the 200 m at the World (Senior) Championships in [[Gothenburg|Gothenburg, Sweden]], and won a silver medal in the 100 m at the [[World University Games]] in [[Fukuoka|Fukuoka, Japan]].