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Donald Thomas
	Donald Thomas celebrating in Osaka 2007
Personal information
Nationality	Bahamian
Born	1 July 1984 (age 40); Freeport, Bahamas
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	81 kg (179 lb)
Sport
Sport	Track and field
Event	High jump
College team	Auburn Tigers
Achievements and titles
Personal best	2.37 m
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing the Bahamas
World Championships
Commonwealth Games
Pan American Games
CAC Games
NACAC Championships
Representing Americas
Continental Cup

Donald Thomas (born 1 July 1984) is a Bahamian high jumper from Freeport, Bahamas.

Biography

Thomas initially played basketball at Bishop Michael Eldon School in Freeport, Bahamas, before taking up high jump in January 2006 while studying at Lindenwood University in Saint Charles, Missouri, where he played on the University's basketball team.^[4] He tried high jump for the first time when challenged by members of the track and field team, who were reacting to his claims about his ability to slam dunk. Thomas cleared 6'6" (1.98 m) on his first attempt and 7' (2.13 m) on his third-ever jump. The athletes then sought the head track coach, Lane Lohr, who entered Thomas in a meet two days later at Eastern Illinois University. At the meet, he cleared 7'3.25" (2.22 m) on his seventh-ever jump.^[5]^[6]

In March 2006, Thomas placed second at the 2006 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships with a height of 7'1.75" (2.18 m).^[7] Later that month, just two months after taking up high jump, he finished fourth at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne with a jump of 2.23 m. Not yet experienced at high jump, Thomas gained notoriety at the Commonwealth Games for not measuring his run-up, competing in shoes without spikes, and putting his arms behind his back to land on the mat as if breaking his fall.^[5]^[8]^[9]

During the 2007 indoor season, he cleared 2.30 metres for the first time and in March jumped 2.33 metres in Fayetteville, Arkansas.^[10] In July 2007 he cleared 2.35 metres in Salamanca, Spain. The result was a new personal best and the world season's best at the time.^[4]^[11] He then won the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan, again with a 2.35 jump. He also won gold at the 2007 IAAF World Athletics Final.^[12] That year, he also won the IAAF Newcomer of the Year and the Bahamas Amateur Athletic Association Athlete of the Year.^[13]

The Olympics in 2008, however, turned out to be a major disappointment for Thomas. He made only 2.20 in the qualifying round and finished 21st overall.^[14]

Thomas won the gold medal in the high jump at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India. In the final, he was the only competitor to clear the height of 2.32, which he managed on the first attempt. His countryman Trevor Barry won the silver medal in the event. In 2011, he won the gold medal in the high jump at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, again with a height of 2.32.

Thomas competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. In qualification, he cleared 2.16, passed on 2.21, failed to clear 2.26, and did not advance to the final.

Thomas represented the Bahamas at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.^[1] He made the final for the first time at an Olympic competition and finished in equal 7th place with a jump of 2.29.^[3]^[15]

He competed at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics.^[16]

Competition record

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Notes
Representing the Bahamas
2006	Commonwealth Games	Melbourne, Australia	4th	2.23 m
	NACAC U23 Championships	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic	2nd	2.21 m
	Central American and Caribbean Games	Cartagena, Colombia	4th	2.13 m
2007	Pan American Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	2nd	2.30 m
2007	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	1st	2.35 m
2008	Olympic Games	Beijing, China	21st (q)	2.20 m
2009	World Championships	Berlin, Germany	15th (q)	2.27 m
2010	World Indoor Championships	Doha, Qatar	15th (q)	2.18 m
	Central American and Caribbean Games	Mayagüez, Puerto Rico	1st	2.28 m
	Commonwealth Games	Delhi, India	1st	2.32 m
2011	World Championships	Daegu, South Korea	11th	2.20 m
2011	Pan American Games	Guadalajara, Mexico	1st	2.32 m
2012	World Indoor Championships	Istanbul, Turkey	15th (q)	2.22 m
2012	Olympic Games	London, United Kingdom	30th (q)	2.16 m
2013	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Morelia, Mexico	–	NM
2013	World Championships	Moscow, Russia	6th	2.32 m
2014	World Indoor Championships	Sopot, Poland	–	NM
2014	Commonwealth Games	Glasgow, United Kingdom	9th	2.21 m
2015	Pan American Games	Toronto, Canada	3rd	2.28 m
2015	World Championships	Beijing, China	6th	2.29 m
2016	World Indoor Championships	Portland, United States	10th	2.25 m
2016	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	7th	2.29 m
2017	World Championships	London, United Kingdom	22nd (q)	2.22 m
2018	World Indoor Championships	Birmingham, United Kingdom	6th	2.20 m
	Commonwealth Games	Gold Coast, Australia	4th	2.27 m
	Central American and Caribbean Games	Barranquilla, Colombia	1st	2.28 m
	NACAC Championships	Toronto, Canada	3rd	2.28 m
2019	Pan American Games	Lima, Peru	11th	2.10 m
2019	World Championships	Doha, Qatar	19th (q)	2.22 m
2021	Olympic Games	Tokyo, Japan	25th (q)	2.21 m
2022	World Indoor Championships	Belgrade, Serbia	11th	2.20 m
	World Championships	Eugene, United States	23rd (q)	2.21 m
	NACAC Championships	Freeport, Bahamas	3rd	2.25 m
2023	World Championships	Budapest, Hungary	16th (q)	2.25 m
2023	Pan American Games	Santiago, Chile	3rd	2.24 m
2024	World Indoor Championships	Glasgow, United Kingdom	9th	2.15 m
2024	Olympic Games	Paris, France	–	NM

References

^ ^a ^b "Donald Thomas - athlete profile". rio2016.com. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
^ "Gyulai István Memorial" (PDF). all-athletics.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 January 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Former Tiger Donald Thomas qualifies for Olympic high jump finals". auburntigers.com. Archived from the original on 3 January 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
^ ^a ^b Valiente, Emeterio (5 July 2007). "2.35 World lead for Donald Thomas in Salamanca". IAAF.org. Retrieved 5 July 2007.
^ ^a ^b Epstein, David (2013). The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance. Current. ISBN 978-1-59184-511-9.
^ "Donald Thomas is revelation of the year". iaaf.org. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
^ "2006 Indoor Track & Field National Championships Results". naia.org. 24 March 2006. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
^ "Donald Thomas (Bahamas) in first major competition clears 2.20m wearing only warm-up training shoes opposed to athletes spikes, Men's High Jump, 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games". gettyimages.ca. Archived from the original on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
^ "Lindenwood's Thomas Competes at Commonwealth Games". naia.org. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
^ Dunaway, James (11 March 2007). "Thomas clears 2.33m, as Hastings blazes women's 400 in 50.80 - NCAA Indoor Champs, Day 2". IAAF.org. Retrieved 5 July 2007.
^ "IAAF Top Lists High Jump 2007 (men)".
^ Bahamian Thomas wins high jump gold on YouTube
^ "Commonwealth Games Biography - Donald Thomas". 8 August 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
^ "Donald Thomas Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 11 September 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
^ "Men's High Jump - Standings". rio2016.com. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
^ "Athletics - THOMAS Donald". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 11 August 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2021.

External links

Olympic Games
Preceded by Shaunae Miller	Flag bearer for Bahamas Tokyo 2020 with Joanna Evans	Succeeded by Devynne Charlton Steven Gardiner
Achievements
Preceded by Andrey Silnov	Men's High Jump Best Year Performance alongside Stefan Holm, Yaroslav Rybakov and Kyriacos Ioannou 2007	Succeeded by Andrey Silnov