# Pauline Davis-Thompson

Pauline Elaine Davis-Thompson (born 9 July 1966) is a former Bahamian sprinter. She competed at five Olympics, a rarity for a track and field athlete. She won her first medal at her fourth Olympics and her first gold medals at her fifth Olympics (Sydney 2000) at age 34 in the 4 × 100 m Relay and, after Marion Jones' belated disqualification nine years later, in the 200m.
In 2022, Davis released her memoirs through Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Running Sideways: The Olympic Champion Who Made Track and Field History has won two international book awards.
Winner, Autobiography/Memoir, International Book Awards, 2023
Winner, Biography/Autobiography, Track and Field Writers of America (TAFWA) Book Award, 2022
In 2024, Davis signed a publishing deal to have Running Sideways translated and published within China.

## Career

In 1984, she was awarded the Austin Sealy Trophy for the most outstanding athlete of the 1984 CARIFTA Games.
Her first high-profile success came in 1989 when she became the NCAA National Champion in the 200-meter dash while setting a collegiate national record as a member of the Alabama Crimson Tide team at the University of Alabama. Then in 1995, she won the silver medal in the 200 metres at the IAAF World Indoor Championships and won another silver, this time in the 400 metres, at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics.
She ran at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics the following year and although she narrowly missed out on a medal in the 400 m, she helped the Bahamian team to a silver medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay. In 1997 she made both the 400 m and 100 m relay finals but failed to win a medal in either event. She received her first World Championships gold medal two years later, in 1999, aiding the Bahamian relay team to victory.
She won a gold medal in both the 200 metres and the 4 × 100 m relay at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. She originally finished in second place in the women's 200 m behind Marion Jones, but on 5 October 2007, Jones admitted to taking performance-enhancing steroids and was stripped of the title. On 9 December 2009, Davis-Thompson was awarded the gold medal.
After her track career, she went into athletics administration, being elected to the IAAF council in 2007.

## Personal life

She was married to Jamaican Olympic hurdler (1992) Mark Thompson.
As a teenager, she had to constantly wear a sports bra to deal with her unoptimal physique at the time.

## Personal bests

| Event | Time | Date | Venue |
| 100 m | 10.97 | 21 July 2000 | Nassau, Bahamas |
| 200 m | 22.27 | 28 September 2000 | Sydney, Australia |
| 400 m | 49.28 | 29 July 1996 | Atlanta, United States |

## Achievements

Representing the  Bahamas :
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
| 1982 | CARIFTA Games (U-17) | Kingston, Jamaica | 2nd | 100 m | 12.19 |
| 1982 | CARIFTA Games (U-17) | Kingston, Jamaica | 2nd | 200 m | 25.1 |
| 1982 | Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U-17) | Bridgetown, Barbados | 1st | 100 m | 11.89 |
| 1982 | Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U-17) | Bridgetown, Barbados | 1st | 200 m | 23.90 |
| 1982 | Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U-17) | Bridgetown, Barbados | 1st | 400 m | 55.90 |
| 1982 | Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U-17) | Bridgetown, Barbados | 1st | Long jump | 5.22 m |
| 1983 | CARIFTA Games (U-20) | Fort-de-France, Martinique | 2nd | 100 m | 11.69 |
| 1983 | CARIFTA Games (U-20) | Fort-de-France, Martinique | 1st | 200 m | 23.57 |
| 1983 | Central American and Caribbean Championships | Havana, Cuba | 2nd | 100 m | 11.60 |
| 1983 | Central American and Caribbean Championships | Havana, Cuba | 2nd | 200 m | 23.65 (w) |
| 1983 | Central American and Caribbean Championships | Havana, Cuba | 1st | 4 × 100 m relay | 45.26 |
| 1986 | Central American and Caribbean Games | Santiago, Dominican Republic | 1st | 100 m | 11.51 |
| 1986 | Central American and Caribbean Games | Santiago, Dominican Republic | 1st | 200 m | 23.06 |
| 1986 | Central American and Caribbean Games | Santiago, Dominican Republic | 2nd | 4 × 100 m relay | 45.49 |
| 1987 | Pan American Games | Indianapolis, United States | 3rd | 100 m | 11.47 |
| 1987 | Pan American Games | Indianapolis, United States | 3rd | 200 m | 22.99 |
| 1989 | Central American and Caribbean Championships | San Juan, Puerto Rico | 1st | 100 m | 11.25 |
| 1989 | Central American and Caribbean Championships | San Juan, Puerto Rico | 2nd | 4 × 100 m relay | 46.50 |
| 1990 | Commonwealth Games | Auckland, New Zealand | 3rd | 100 m | 11.20 w (+4.4 m/s) |
| 1990 | Commonwealth Games | Auckland, New Zealand | 3rd | 200 m | 23.15 |
| 1991 | World Indoor Championships | Seville, Spain | 5th | 60 m | 7.16 |
| 1991 | World Championships | Tokyo, Japan | 7th | 200 m | 22.90 (-2.4 m/s) |
| 1993 | IAAF Grand Prix Final | Stuttgart, Germany | 8th | 100 m | 11.56 |
| 1994 | IAAF Grand Prix Final | Paris, France | 7th | 400 m | 51.52 |
| 1995 | World Indoor Championships | Barcelona, Spain | 2nd | 200 m | 22.68 |
| 1995 | World Championships | Gothenborg, Sweden | 2nd | 400 m | 49.96 |
| 1995 | World Championships | Gothenborg, Sweden | 4th | 4 × 100 m relay | 43.14 |
| 1996 | Olympic Games | Atlanta, United States | 4th | 400 m | 49.28 |
| 1996 | Olympic Games | Atlanta, United States | 2nd | 4 × 100 m relay | 42.14 |
| 1997 | World Championships | Athens, Greece | 7th | 400 m | 50.68 |
| 1997 | World Championships | Athens, Greece | 6th | 4 × 100 m relay | 42.77 |
| 1998 | IAAF Grand Prix Final | Moscow, Russia | 8th | 400 m | 53.83 |
| 1999 | World Indoor Championships | Maebashi, Japan | 3rd | 200 m | 22.70 |
| 1999 | World Championships | Seville, Spain | 1st | 4 × 100 m relay | 41.92 |
| 2000 | Olympic Games | Sydney, Australia | 1st | 200 m | 22.27 (+0.7 m/s) |
| 2000 | Olympic Games | Sydney, Australia | 1st | 4 × 100 m relay | 41.95 |