Jenny Thompson
Jenny Thompson
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Jenny Thompson

Jennifer Beth Thompson (born February 26, 1973) is an American former competition swimmer.

She is one of the most decorated Olympians in history: twelve medals, including eight gold medals, in the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 Summer Olympics.

Thompson, a Massachusetts native who calls Dover, New Hampshire, her hometown, began swimming at age 7 at a summer country club called Cedardale in Groveland, Massachusetts. During the indoor season, she swam at the Danvers YMCA from ages 8 to 10, and then at the Andover-North Andover YMCA from the ages of 10 to 12. At age 12 she began swimming for Seacoast Swimming Association under coaches Amy and Mike Parratto, and moved to Dover at age 13.

She first appeared on the international scene as a 14-year-old in 1987, when she won the 50-meter freestyle and placed third in the 100-meter freestyle at the Pan American Games. She won her first world championship in 1991, as part of the USA's winning 4×100-meter freestyle relay team, and held the world record in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle when she participated in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

Thompson attended Stanford University, and swam for the Stanford Cardinal swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Pacific-10 Conference competition. She was the recipient of the 1994–95 Honda Sports Award for Swimming and Diving, recognizing her as the outstanding college female swimmer of the year.

In 2006, Thompson received a medical degree from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, completed a residency in anesthesiology at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and then a fellowship in pediatric anesthesiology at Children's Hospital of Boston.

Thought to be at the height of her competitive career at the time, Thompson was expected to win up to five gold medals at those Olympics. However, she failed to qualify for the final in the 200-meter freestyle, finished a disappointing fifth in the 50-meter, and finished second in the 100-meter, where she was beaten by Zhuang Yong of China. Thompson won two gold medals as part of the 4×100-meter freestyle and 4×100-meter medley teams. Considerable controversy was raised after the 100-meter freestyle when the U.S. team speculated on the loose doping policy standards in Barcelona—at that time the event winner did not have a mandatory doping test—only the second and fourth-place finishers were tested, based on a random draw. Thompson and her teammates believed that the Olympic champion should be tested and that rule was changed a few months later when nine members of the Chinese swimming team tested positive for steroid use.

Thompson continued her career as a member of the U.S. national team and a member of the Stanford University swimming team, and continued to rank among the world's best swimmers for the next four years. During Thompson's four years at Stanford, she was a member of four NCAA championship teams, considered to be some of the most dominant collegiate teams in NCAA history. During that time, Thompson amassed nineteen individual and relay NCAA titles. She competed as a member of the USA Finswimming Team at the 8th World Championship held in Hungary during August 1996. Thompson had a poor performance at the 1996 Olympic Trials which kept her from qualifying in her individual events.

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