It was a disappointing Olympics for Florence’s Curtis Thompson, who placed 27th in the javelin early Tuesday morning at Stade de France in Paris.
Thompson was bidding to become the first American in 20 years to reach the Olympic javelin final.
He threw 251-11 on his 1st attempt and that wound up as his best throw of the competition. It was more than 20 feet less than he threw in June to win his 4th U.S. National Championship and 2nd Olympic Trials.
Thompson finished 13th out of 16 throwers in Flight A, which was over soon after 5 a.m. EST. He wound up 27th out of 32 qualifiers. Thompson placed 21st in 2021 in Tokyo with a best throw of 256-6.
The top 12 placers – plus anyone else who threw 275-6 [84 meters] – qualified for the final. Only seven throwers reached the auto qualifier, and the cut-off for the final turned out to be 272-0.
Thompson, a four-time U.S. champion and two-time Olympic Trials winner, has a lifetime-best of 287-9 two summers ago at American JavFest in East Stroudsburg, Pa., No. 3 in U.S. history. He threw 272-5 at the Trials in Eugene in June and then 271-0 back in East Stroudsburg three weeks ago.
In his javelin career, Thompson has surpassed 270 feet nine times.
No American has reached the Olympic javelin finals since Breaux Greer placed 12th in Athens in 2004. No American has placed in the top 10 since Tom Pukstys was 8th in Atlanta in 1996. No American has medaled since Bill Schmidt of Western Pennsylvania placed 3rd in Munich in 1972. Schmidt has a South Jersey connection – he did his basic training after joining the Army at Fort Dix, only 12 miles from Thompson’s hometown of Florence.
Thompson was the only U.S. thrower in this year’s Olympics.
The last South Jersey athlete to medal in the javelin at the Olympics was Lawnside native and Haddon Heights graduate Bill Miller, who won the silver medal in Helsinki in 1952 with a throw of 237-8 with the old javelin (in use through 1986).
Thompson, 28, threw the 251-11 on his first of three attempts. He fouled on his 2nd and then finished with a 243-6.
Thompson’s Mississippi State teammate, Anderson Peters of Grenada, threw 290-7, the 2nd-best qualifying mark going into the finals. (Marks do not carry over)
South Jersey has had at least one track competitor in 10 of the last 11 Olympics (and it would have been 11 of 12 if not for the 1980 boycott).
2024: Curtis Thompson
2021: English Gardner, Curtis Thompson
2016: Nia Ali, Priscilla Frederick, English Gardner, Marielle Hall,
2012: None
2008: Erin Donohue
2004: Nadia Davy
2000: Shana Williams
1996: Carl Lewis, Dennis Mitchell, Shana Williams
1992: Carl Lewis, Dennis Mitchell, Jack Pierce, Lamont Smith
1988: Carl Lewis, Carol Lewis, Dennis Mitchell
1984: Carl Lewis, Carol Lewis,
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 