Cynthia Thompson

Jamaica’s Cynthia Thompson first gained attention in 1946, when she won the 100 metres event at that year’s Central American and Caribbean Games, the first held since the end of World War II, and also took silver in the 50 metres. This feat earned her a trip to the 1948 London Olympics, where, as Jamaica’s first female Olympian, she came in sixth in the 100 metres and was eliminated in the semifinals of the 200 metres. She set an Olympic record during the heats for the latter event, although it was soon broken by South Africa’s Daphne Robb and then gold medalist Fanny Blankers-Koen of the Netherlands.

Thompson’s next stop was the 1950 Central American and Caribbean Games, where she took silver in the 50 and 100 metres contests behind her compatriot Hyacinth Walters. While this would lead to Walters taking Thompson’s spot at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, Walters and Thompson worked together to win gold in the 4x100 metres relay in 1950, alongside Kathleen Russell and the non-Olympian Kareen Searchwell. Thompson, Walters, and Russell, with non-Olympian Kathleen Robotham, went on to take silver in that relay at the 1954 Central American and Caribbean Games, which would be Thompson’s last major international tournament. She later became a pediatrician and did not retire until her late 70s.

Personal Bests: 100 – 12.0 (1948); 200 – 25.1 (1947).