Editing Obadele Thompson (section)

====Professional athletics career====

=====1997=====
After the collegiate season, Thompson placed sixth in the 200 m at the 1997 World Championships in [[Athens|Athens, Greece]]. He also finished second in the same event at the IAAF Grand Prix Finals in Fukuoka, Japan. He moved up the ''Track & Field News'' rankings to #4 in the 200 m in the world.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/Rankings/02-m200Rank.pdf|title=Track & Field News World Rankings – Men's 200}}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

=====1998=====
In the summer of 1998, Thompson relocated to [[Austin, Texas]] to work with [[Dan Pfaff]], who had coached Bailey to the 1996 Olympic 100 m title. Pfaff helped Thompson shake off mid-season woes and finish the last two months of competition strongly. During that period, he broke the Barbados national 100 m record four times. On 5 September, he placed second in a photo finish to Fredericks in the 100 m Grand Prix Final in Moscow, Russia. A week later, on 11 September, he recorded his all-time personal best of 9.87 sec. en route to winning the 100 m at the [[World Cup in Athletics]] in [[Johannesburg|Johannesburg, South Africa]], erasing the championship record set by [[Ben Johnson (Canadian sprinter)|Ben Johnson]] in 1985. At the time, Thompson's performance was the fourth-fastest legal 100 m in history (only 0.03 sec. outside Bailey's world record Olympic victory of 9.84 sec.), and the second-fastest 100 m in 1998 (0.01 sec. behind Boldon's 9.86 sec.). Days later, on 17 September, he won the 100 m bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in [[Kuala Lumpur|Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia]], behind Boldon and Fredericks, after leaving the starting blocks last. ''Track & Field News'' ranked him #6 in the world in the 100 m.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/Rankings/01-m100Rank.pdf|title=Track & Field News World Rankings – Men's 100}}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

=====1999=====
In March, Thompson won the silver medal in the 200 m at the [[IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics|IAAF World Indoor Championships]] in [[Maebashi|Maebashi, Japan]]. His time of 20.26 sec. was the then third-fastest all-time performance. Later that season, Thompson placed fourth in the 100 and 200 metres at the World Championships in [[Seville|Seville, Spain]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.iaaf.org/athletes/barbados/obadele-thompson-9873|title=IAAF: Obadele Thompson {{!}} Profile|website=iaaf.org|access-date=2018-02-21}}</ref> and ''Track & Field News'' ranked him #5 and #6 in those events, respectively.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/Rankings/01-m100Rank.pdf|title=Track & Field News World Rankings – Men's 100}}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/Rankings/02-m200Rank.pdf|title=Track & Field News World Rankings – Men's 200}}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

=====2000=====
[[File:Mens 100m medalists, Sydney2000.jpg|thumb|Thompson (right) posing with the other 100&nbsp;m Olympic medallists]]
Obadele reached the zenith of his athletic career in 2000. After rounding into form on European track circuit, he injured his big toe while placing second to [[Maurice Greene (athlete)|Maurice Greene]] in the 100 m at the Monaco Golden League meeting,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.iaaf.org/results/iaaf-golden-league/2000/herculis-zepter-2348/men/100-metres/final/result#resultheader|title=IAAF: 100 Metres Result {{!}} Herculis Zepter {{!}} iaaf.org|website=iaaf.org|access-date=2018-02-21}}</ref> forcing him to return to the US for treatment six weeks before the 2000 Sydney Games. He returned to competition ten days before the Games to set a 200 m personal best of 19.97 sec. in [[Yokohama|Yokohama, Japan]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.iaaf.org/news/news/second-best-all-time-for-lebedeva-in-yokohama|title=IAAF: Second best all-time for Lebedeva in Yokohama{{!}} News {{!}} iaaf.org|website=iaaf.org|access-date=2018-02-21}}</ref> At the Games, he won the bronze medal in the 100 m in 10.04 sec. behind Greene (9.87 sec.) and Boldon (9.99 sec.) and placed fourth in the 200 m, although he and Boldon both ran 20.20 sec.

His bronze medal was Barbados' first and only Olympic medal and only the second Olympic medal won by a Barbadian athlete (at the 1960 Rome Olympics, Barbadian [[Jim Wedderburn]] won bronze with three Jamaicans on the [[West Indies Federation]] 4 x 400 metres relay team).

By season end, ''Track & Field News'' ranked Thompson #3 in the world in the 100 and 200 metres,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/Rankings/01-m100Rank.pdf|title=Track & Field News World Rankings – Men's 100}}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/Rankings/02-m200Rank.pdf|title=Track & Field News World Rankings – Men's 200}}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> while the [[International Association of Athletics Federations|International Association of Athletic Federations]] (IAAF) ranked him #3 in the 100 m and #2 in the 200 m.