Kishane Thompson's chance to show learnings from Paris 2024 at Rome Diamond League after Silesia withdrawal
The Olympic silver medallist will match up against fellow Paris medallist Fred Kerley, who won bronze, and 200m Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo at the Golden Gala a week after pulling out of Silesia.
Athletics
"I gained a lot of experience running with all these great competitors," Kishane Thompson said in the immediate aftermath of the Paris 2024 Olympic men's 100m final in which the Jamaican agonisingly finished second by 0.005 seconds to Noah Lyles.
In the mixed zone facing the media after that Olympic final, Thompson shared that he had "made my mistakes, and I know what I should improve on now."
But what lessons exactly did the 23-year-old take away from the Stade de France and its purple track, which left him devastated by just five one-thousandths of a second?
"The first thing I've learned after going through something like this is I have to be more patient with myself," he told Spain's Relevo in the days after his race, with the benefit of hindsight.
"The second thing is I need to understand that the last part of the race is the most complicated, and the third is when it's such a close final, I have to big up myself even more."
This week, Thompson is due to take part in his first race since that final, the chance to take his learnings from Paris to his next meet.
The Jamaican takes on the bronze medallist Fred Kerley and fellow Olympic finalists Marcell Jacobs and Letsile Tebogo at the Golden Gala, the Rome stop on track and field's top Diamond League global circuit, on Friday (30 August). Also in the race will be the 2019 world champion Christian Coleman, and all nine men entered have sub-10 personal best times.
Thompson's chance to bounce back from the Olympic final and earn an international 100m win comes less than a week after the 23-year-old withdrew from the Silesia Diamond League, citing discomfort caused by a hamstring injury he picked up in the semi-finals of the Olympic Games.
Has Thompson recovered sufficiently, both physically and mentally, since Paris?
Kishane Thompson's international racing experience
Remarkably, the Golden Gala will be just Thompson's fourth career Diamond League meet.
The young Jamaican had not run at a major senior global championships before the Olympic Games, with no World Championships experience under his belt, partially due to a string of injuries.
He only took part in three Diamond League events last year, finishing fifth in Monaco and second in Xiamen before coming fourth at the Final in Eugene, Oregon.
Thompson's only senior international victory came earlier this year at the Gyulai IstvĂĄn Memorial Continental Tour Gold meet â although he did beat Tebogo in that race too.
Perhaps that relative inexperience racing globally cost Thompson in Paris?
"I didn't trust myself enough, and my speed, to bring me to the line in the right position I needed to be," the native of Mitchell Town, Jamaica, said to the media following that final.
"I was excited-nervous. Not nervous in the sense I couldn't control myself. I was nervous and excited to go. But I should've been more focused and patient with myself."
With that experience now under his belt, and hopefully recovered from the knock that could also have played a part during the Olympic final, Thompson has the chance to lower his world lead of 9.77 in Rome.
Will we see Kishane Thompson over the half lap soon?
Despite the disappointment from Paris, Thompson has already set his sights ahead.
"I have to see the loss as a win," he said to Relevo. "It's my first Games, my first moment like this. I have to learn â not to win, but to do the best possible.
"I've lived the Olympic experience and everything that comes along with it, and what I've gone through motivates me even more to try to get the gold in my next major championships."
And watch out, Noah Lyles and Letsile Tebogo. Kishane Thompson could soon be racing the 200m too.
"I'll soon be there at that distance. I like it," he said.