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Jenny Thompson
- The most decorated American Olympian of all-time with 12 medals -- including a record eight gold -- from the 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 Olympic Games
- Became the third female swimmer to ever qualify for four Olympic Games
- Owns 85 medals from international competition making her the most decorated swimmer in history (14 World Championships medals, 34 Pan Pacific Championship medals, 17 short course World Championship medals)
- Has earned 26 U.S. National titles and is a 15-time National Team member
- Named one of the ‘Greatest 100 Female Athletes’ of the 20th Century by Sports Illustrated
- Olympic medals breakdown: 2004 – two silver, AR; 2000 – three gold, one bronze, two WR; 1996 – three gold; 1992 – two gold, one silver
- On Aug. 23, 1999, Thompson broke one of swimming's most revered standards – Mary T. Meagher's 100-meter butterfly 1981 world record. Thompson bettered Meagher's time of 57.93 seconds by .05. "It's a dream come true – I can't believe it, I'm so psyched”
- Trained for eight weeks in the ‘Jenny Thompson Pool’ prior to the 2002 Summer Nationals, qualified for the Pan Pacifics, where she won five medals and swam a lifetime best in the 50m freestyle
- 10-time USA Swimming All-Star (top-ranked Americans by event)
- 2000 Women's Sports Foundation Sportswoman of the Year; 1999 USOC SportsWoman of the Year; 1993 and 1998 USA Swimming’s Swimmer of the Year
- Aspires professionally to become a doctor … graduated from Stanford University in 1995 with a human biology major ... began medical school at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons in the fall of 2001
- Flew on a transplant airlift: “We started at Columbia Presbyterian, got on an ambulance, went to the airplane, flew to Virginia, picked up a lung, put it on ice, flew back and I watched them put it into a woman. From start to finish, it was amazing.”
- In her four years of competing for Stanford University, the school went undefeated … winning every single dual meet, conference championship and NCAA title
- Earned her first international gold medal at the 1987 Pan American Games (50m free)
- In her spare time, she volunteers with Swim Across America, an organization that raises money for cancer research and promotes an aquarium / ecology learning center to be built in New Hampshire
In May 1994, she and a friend attempted to do a flip on a homemade water slide, but they landed awkwardly, breaking Thompson’s left forearm. Doctors told Thompson that she was done for the rest of the swimming season. "I told them, 'No, I need this year,’" she says. "I told them I'm a fast healer." She was right. Two weeks later, Thompson won the 100-meter freestyle title at the U.S. Nationals -- just days after having a titanium plate and seven screws inserted in her arm.
Related Links
Photo gallery: Post-Olympic: Ballgames, award shows and more
Photo gallery: Swimming's underwater world
Q&A: Jenny Thompson on her comeback and picking up a lung
On her last race in Athens: "That was my last Olympic swim race," said Thompson, who was denied her ninth Olympic gold medal and remained tied for the most Olympic gold medals by an American swimmer with eight. "I am so proud of the women on my team."
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Height: 5'10
Born: 2/26/1973
Hometown: Dover, N.H.
Resides: New York, N.Y.
Sport: Swimming
Event: 50m, 100m free; 100m fly
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