Christopher Thompson (born 17 April 1981) is a British

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance ru ...

, who won the

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship-level events. The ...

at the

2010 European Athletics Championships The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, C ...

in Barcelona, on 27 July 2010 behind his compatriot

Mo Farah Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah (born Hussein Abdi Kahin; 23 March 1983) is a Somali-British former long-distance runner. Considered one of the greatest runners of all time, his ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World tit ...

. Prior to his 2010 medal win he had won the European U23 5000 m Championship in 2003. However he was initially unable to build on this victory, as he had substantial injury problems for a number of years. He is currently coached by Alan Storey. Thompson ran at the 2010 Great Yorkshire Run in September and came close to victory, but was edged out by a second by

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n Craig Mottram. He took on top

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

n runners at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

, but he could not repeat his podium performance of Barcelona; he finished in fifth place behind

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

n winner Moses Kipsiro and the

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

n team, making him the top non-African performer in the event. At the start of the 2011 track season Chris Thompson ran the third fastest 10,000 m by a Briton with his time of 27:27.36 minutes at the Payton Jordan Invitational in

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He was the sole runner to challenge

Haile Gebrselassie Haile Gebrselassie (; born 18 April 1973) is an Ethiopian former Long-distance running, long-distance track running, track, road running athlete, and businessman. He won two Olympic gold medals and four World Athletics Championships, World Cha ...

at the Great Manchester Run in May and finished as runner-up to the decorated

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

n. A heel injury interrupted his season and eventually ruled him out of competing at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in the ...

. He returned to action in October at the

Great South Run The Great South Run is an annual 10 mile (16.09 km) road running race which takes place in Portsmouth, United Kingdom providing an intermediate distance between the ten kilometre and the half marathon (21.097 km) runs. Launched in 199 ...

. At the 10-mile

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

race he started quickly, but faded badly in the latter stages and ended up fourth. He praised the sensible pacing of Alistair Cragg (who overtook him for third place) and remarked "I didn't respect the course with my ambitions...I've learned a lesson about road running for the future". He ran his first

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish, or shortcu ...

at the start of 2012, placing seventh at the New York Half Marathon in a time of 61:23 minutes. He came fourth at the Payton Jordan 5000 m and represented the hosts in the 10,000 metres event at the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, managing only 25th place after an injury interrupted season. His last outing of the year was sixth at the

Great North Run The Great North Run (branded the AJ Bell Great North Run for sponsorship purposes) is the largest half marathon in the world, taking place annually in North East England each September. Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and South Shie ...

. He was not selected for the

2013 World Championships in Athletics The 14th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (Moscow 2013; ) was an international athletics (sport), athletics competition held in Moscow, Russia, from 10 to 18 August 2013. Initially, Russia at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics, Russia ...

the following year, although he had season's bests of 13:24.06 minutes and 27:40.81 minutes on the track. On the roads he came fifth at the Great Scottish Run and was second at the Great Birmingham Run. On 22 September 2013, Thompson was crowned 'King of Richmond' beating Andy Vernon in the Kew Gardens 10k at the inaugural Richmond Running Festival. On 13 April 2014 Thompson came 11th in the

2014 London Marathon The 2014 London Marathon was the 34th running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 13 April. The men's elite race was won by Kenyan Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich and the women's race was won by Kenyan Edna Kip ...

with a race time of 2 hours 11 minutes and 19 seconds. At the 2015 Great Birmingham run, Thompson won a closely contested race finishing the half-marathon in a time of 01:03:00 signalling that his persistent calf injury had finally healed. Thompson won the 2019 Bath half marathon, finishing with a time of 01:03:09. Thompson finished second in the 2020 The Vitality Big Half with a time of 1:01:07 (following

Kenenisa Bekele Kenenisa Bekele Beyecha (; ; born 13 June 1982) is an Ethiopian Long-distance running, long-distance runner. He was the world record holder in both the 5000 metres, 5,000-metre and 10000 metres, 10,000-metre from 2004 until 2020. He won the go ...

's 1:00:22 course record time). Thompson qualified for the marathon event at the delayed

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, after winning the British Marathon Trials at Kew Gardens in London in March 2021 Thompson announced his retirement as an elite runner in October 2024 .

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Chris Living people 1981 births Sportspeople from Barrow-in-Furness English male cross country runners British male cross country runners English male long-distance runners English male marathon runners British male marathon runners Olympic male long-distance runners Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for England Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games European Athletics Championships medalists British Athletics Championships winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century English sportsmen