Chris Thompson Athlete
Christopher "Chris" Thompson (born 17 April 1981) is a British long-distance runner who won the silver medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2010 European Athletics Championships in Barcelona, on 27 July 2010 behind his compatriot Mo Farah. Prior to his 2010 medal win he had won the European U23 5000 metres 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 ran at the 2010 Great Yorkshire Run in September and came come to victory but was edged out by a second by Australian Craig Mottram. He took on top African runners at the 2010 Commonwealth Games but he could not repeat his podium performance of Barcelona; he finished in fifth place behind Ugandan winner Moses Kipsiro and the Kenyan team, making him the top non-African performer in the event. At the start of the 2011 track season Chris Thompson missed out on the British 10,000 m record at the Payton Jordan Invitational in Stanford, California, but he completed the third fastest 10,000 m by a Briton with his time of 27:27.36 minutes. He was the sole runner to challenge Haile Gebrselassie at the Great Manchester Run in May and finished as runner-up to the decorated Ethiopian. A heel injury interrupted his season and eventually ruled him out of competing at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics. He returned to action in October at the Great South Run. At the 10-mile Portsmouth 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".
