Thompson Wins Olympic Bronze Medal in 1,500 Freestyle
9/23/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Olympics
SYDNEY, Australia -- Going into the final of the men's 1,500-meter freestyle at the 2000 Summer Olympics, the United States' Chris Thompson (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg HS) knew he had to swim faster than he had in the preliminaries if he wanted a medal.
And the University of Michigan senior did just that, cutting over 14 seconds off his prelim time to finish in an American-record 14:56.81 and take the bronze medal on Saturday (Sept. 23) at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre. Thompson out-touched Alexei Filipets of the Russian Federation by seven one-hundreths of a second for third place.
Grant Hackett (14:48.33) led from start to finish and upset favorite and fellow Australian Kieren Perkins (14:53.59) for the gold. Perkins was trying to become the first man to win three 1,500 free gold medals in three consecutive Olympic Games.
Seeded sixth in the final after his 15:11.21 prelims performance, Thompson started slowly and was in sixth place after 250 meters. He jumped two spots to fourth at the next turn and moved into third at the 350-meter mark.
Thompson was either third or fourth the rest of the way, battling Filipets and American Erik Vendt for the bronze. Filipets used a strong surge to move into third with 150 meters remaining and held more than a half-second lead on Thompson at the final turn, but Thompson's powerful kick allowed him to snare the bronze.
Thompson became just the second American in over a decade to go under 15 minutes, and his time of 14:56.81 broke Vendt's American record of 14:59.11, set Aug. 16 at U.S. Olympic Trials in Indianapolis.
1,500-Meter Freestyle Final
1. Grant Hackett, Australia 14:48.33 2. Kieren Perkins, Australia 14:53.59 3. CHRIS THOMPSON, USA 14:56.81 4. Alexei Filipets Russian Federation 14:56.88 5. Ryk Neethling, South Africa 15:00.48 6. Erik Vendt, USA 15:08.61 7. Igor Chervynskiy, Ukraine 15:08.80 8. Heiko Hell, Germany 15:19.87
Notes
• Chris Thompson completed a remarkable run for the U-M swimmers at the 2000 Olympic Games. Six past and present Wolverines won medals, accounting for three golds, a silver and three bronzes (2-1-1 in individual events, 1-0-2 in relays). The U-M swimming medalists from the Sydney Olympics:
| Tom Dolan, USA | Gold | Men's 400-meter individual medley |
| Tom Dolan, USA | Silver | Men's 200-meter individual medley |
| Tom Malchow, USA | Gold | Men's 200-meter butterfly |
| Samantha Arsenault, USA | Gold | Women's 800-meter freestyle relay |
| Chris Thompson, USA | Bronze | Men's 1,500-meter freestyle |
| Marcel Wouda, The Netherlands | Bronze | Men's 800-meter freestyle relay |
| Gustavo Borges, Brazil | Bronze | Men's 400-meter freestyle relay |
Players Mentioned
