Jenny Thompson
USA
Swimming
Overall Ranks
#22 among American Olympians
#8 among Swimmers
#7 among Female American Olympians
#7 among American Swimmers
#2 among Female American Swimmers
Olympic Results
1992
100m freestyle - Silver
4x100m freestyle relay - Gold
4x100m medley relay - Gold
1996
4x100m freestyle relay - Gold
4x200m freestyle relay - Gold
4x100m medley relay - Gold
2000
100m freestyle - Bronze
4x100m freestyle relay - Gold
4x200m freestyle relay - Gold
4x100m medley relay - Gold
2004
4x100m freestyle relay - Silver
4x100m medley relay - Silver
Total
Events - 17
Gold - 8
Silver - 3
Bronze - 1
Jennifer Beth Thompson was born on February 26, 1973 in Danvers, Massachusetts, and began swimming when she was 7 years old. At age 13, she moved to Dover, New Hampshire for training, and by the time she was 19, she held the world record in both the 50m and 100m freestyle races, just in time for the Barcelona Olympics.
Going into the 100m race in 1992, she was the favorite going into the event, thanks to her world record at the Olympic trials. In the prelim, she set a new Olympic record of 54.69 seconds, but in the final Zhuang Yong of China took the lead early and was able to hold off Thompson clear to the end, winning by 0.2 seconds and beating Thompson's new Olympic record, while leaving her with the silver medal.
She next competed in the 200m freestyle, and she was able to qualify for the B final, but decided not to race in order to focus on other events where she could win a medal. The next day, she swam the anchor leg in the 4x100m freestyle relay final. China took the lead on the first leg behind a great split from Zhuang, with the USA in third, but Dara Torres pulled them into second after her leg. When Thompson entered the pool, China was still ahead, but it was close. Thompson went out and swam the fastest relay leg in history to bring home the gold medal for the Americans, who finished 0.66 seconds ahead of China.
Next up was the 4x100m Medley Relay, where she again swam the freestyle anchor leg in the final. Germany and the Unified Team kept it close through the first half of the race, but the USA pulled away during the butterfly, and then Thompson swam the third-fastest split of all time to bring home another gold in world record time.
Her final event in Barcelona was the 50m, where she was also the world record holder. She won her prelim heat, but in the final, she came in 5th place, which was a major disappointment, but she still left her first Olympics with 2 golds and a silver.
In 1996, she failed to qualify for any of the individual events, but was still added to the Olympic team to compete in relays. In the 4x100m freestyle relay, she again had the honor of swimming the anchor leg in the final, and after Amy Van Dyken gave the USA the lead on the second leg, Thompson put it away at the end, giving the Americans the gold medal by more than a second over China.
In the 4x100m medley relay, Thompson swam the butterfly leg in the prelim, in which America had the bets time, and then they went on to win gold in the final without Thompson, instead using gold medalist Angel Martino in that slot. She also swam the anchor leg in the 4x200m relay final, where she was given a 1.5 second lead, which she held through the finish, as the Americans won the gold medal in world record time, beating the world record set in the prelim by 4.5 seconds.
Over the next three years, she won 3 straight world championships in the 100m freestyle, so she went to Sydney in 2000 expecting big things. She started again with the 4x100m freestyle relay, where she swam the anchor in the final, and stretched a 1.8 second lead to 3.2 seconds to set another Olympic record and win another relay gold.
She then swam in the 100m butterfly, and she won both of her heats to qualify for the final, but in the final, she was never really in contention, finishing 5th, more than 2 seconds behind the winner. She then swam anchor in the 4x200m freestyle relay, and the Americans trailed for most of the final, before Thompson pulled ahead of Australia at the final turn, and ended up winning by 0.7 seconds, again setting an Olympic record.
Next up was the 100m freestyle, where she was 3-time defending world champion, but she came in second in the semifinal round behind eventual gold medalist Inge de Bruijn, and ended up finishing in a tie for 3rd with Dara Torres of the USA for the bronze medal. In the 4x100m medley relay, she swam the butterfly leg in the final, and all 4 Americans had the fastest split for their stroke, and they easily beat Australia by over 3 seconds and set a world record.
She retired after the Olympics to pursue a medical degree, but decided to begin training again in 2002 for a possible Olympic return, and she ended up making the team. For the 4th straight Olympics, she swam the anchor leg in the final of the 4x100m freestyle, but unlike the last three times, she was passed on the final stretch by Jodie Henry of Australia, and the USA had to settle for a silver medal.
She qualified for the final in both the 100m butterfly and the 50m freestyle, but she ended up finishing 5th in the fly and 7th in the freestyle, ending her quest for an individual Olympic gold. She also swam the butterfly leg in the 4x100m medley relay final, where she was again passed during her leg, and the Americans finished with another silver medal.
She retired again after the Olympics to return to finish medical school, graduating in 2006, and she has worked since then as a pediatric anesthesiologist. Even though she never won individual gold in the Olympics, her 8 gold medals in the relays are a record, and only 1 behind Katie Ledecky for the most golds for an American woman, making her one of the greatest Olympians of all time.


