SAINT-DENIS, France — Some athletes adopt the mindset that they don’t lose, they learn. Jamaican sprinter Kishane Thompson is one of those athletes.
USA TODAY Sports got a chance to interview Thompson at Nike’s Athletes House in Paris in the aftermath of a thrilling 100-meter final.
Thompson, who still owns the best 100 time in the world this year, came into the Paris Olympics as a gold-medal favorite. But he came in second behind Noah Lyles by five-thousandths of a second in the most competitive men’s 100 final in Olympics history during which all eight runners finished under 10 seconds for the first time ever, according to World Athletics.
The race was so close that Lyles thought Thompson had won.
‘I did think Thompson had it at the end,’ Lyles said. ‘I went up to him when we were waiting and I said, ‘I think you got that one big dog.”
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Thompson told USA TODAY Sports, that he wasn’t sure who had won immediately after the race.
‘Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I won. I knew it was close between first and second,’ Thompson said. ‘I know I cleared the person on my exact right, and I saw I was in front of the person on my left. But I wasn’t too sure if I got it. It was that close.’
Nobody inside Stade de France knew who won until the photo view results were displayed on the video board seconds after the race.
Thompson was disappointed when the results were finally shown, but the 23-year-old has a positive outlook on the outcome in what was his inaugural Olympic experience.
‘I have a mentality where, I know it will hurt because I didn’t get the win. Naturally everyone wants to win when they line up. But I just got to take a loss as a win,’ Thompson explained. ‘It’s my first Olympics and first major moment like this. I wouldn’t change anything. I just got to learn from it. I’m not looking back. I’m looking forward. It’s done.’
Thompson said he learned three things from the race.
‘Honestly, I have to be more patient with myself. Two, I have to be more aware of the end part of my race. When it’s that tight at the finish, I have to learn to lean more. But three, for me, I just have to separate myself from the field so that can’t happen,’ he said with a smile.
But most of all, the Olympic silver medal motivated the Jamaican sprinter who still has several years, and possibly more Olympic and world championship 100 finals in front of him.
‘More motivated (and) hungry,’ Thompson said, ‘all of it.’