Kathryn Thomson (born 26 January 1996) is a British short track speed skater who competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, People's Republic of China.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 26 January 1996 Irvine, Scotland | |||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Great Britain | |||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Short track speed skating | |||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||
| Olympic finals | 2018 | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||
Early life edit
Thomson was born in Irvine,[1] Scotland, and raised in Kilmarnock.[2] She attended Wellington School in Ayr[3] and Grange Academy in Kilmarnock,[4] before leaving full-time education at the age of 16 to pursue her career in short track speed skating.[4]
Career edit
In 2009, Thomson competed at the "Future Champions Trophy" in Amsterdam, Netherlands. At the time, she was training on the ice twice a week.[5] Thomson moved to Nottingham, England in 2012, to become a full-time athlete.[2][6] She is based at the National Ice Centre in Nottingham.[7] Thomson won a silver medal in the 500 metres event at the 2013 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival. She crashed out of her 1500 metres semi-final at the Festival.[8] At the start of the 2016–17 season, Thomson set her personal best in a World Cup event in Calgary, Canada.[6]
Thomson qualified to compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics in the 500, 1000 and 1500 metres events.[9] Thomson finished fourth in her 1500 metres heat, and did not qualify for the final.[10] She finished third in her 500 metres heat, and did not qualify for the quarter final,[11] and fourth in her 1,000 metres heat, again not qualifying for the quarter final.[12] She was part of the British team that came third in the mixed team relay at the 2018–19 ISU Short Track Speed Skating World Cup event in Dresden.[13] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Thomson moved in with her parents and worked in a Dunelm furniture store to fund her participation in short track speed skating;[14] the sport did not receive funding for the 2018–2022 funding cycle, and it cost Thomson £22,000 to compete in the 2021–22 season.[15]
At the British trials for the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thomson won the 7-lap time trial, 1 lap with a flying start, 1.5 laps from standing start[16] and 500 metres events. She tied for first in the 1,500 metres event with Elise Christie.[17] Thomson was selected for the 2022 Games in the 500, 1000 and 1500 metres events.[18] In the 500 and 1000 metres events, she finished last in her heat.[19][20] She withdrew on medical grounds from the 1500 metre event before her first heat.[21]
References edit
- ^ "Kathryn Thomson". teamgb.com. Team GB. Archived from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
- ^ a b "Kathryn Thomson". gbshorttrack.org. GB Short Track. Archived from the original on 28 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
- ^ "PyeongChang 2018 Awaits Former Wellington Pupil, Kathryn Thomson". wellingtonschool.org. Wellington School. Archived from the original on 10 February 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
- ^ a b "Kathryn Thomson ready for her Olympic debut while Elise Christie has her sights set on silverware". The Herald. 4 February 2018. Archived from the original on 10 February 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
- ^ Fullerton, Clair (27 March 2009). "Speed skating: Kathryn Thomson competes in Holland". Daily Record. Glasgow. Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
- ^ a b Egelstaff, Susan (9 December 2016). "Speed skating: Kathryn Thomson keen to crash Olympic party". The National. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
- ^ Talbot-Smith, Charlie (16 February 2013). "Kathryn Thomson relishing speed skater medal battle". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
- ^ Talbot-Smith, Charlie (19 February 2013). "Speed skating: Kathryn Thomson hits new heights with silver in Romania". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
- ^ "Five short track speed skaters selected for PyeongChang 2018". Team GB. 13 December 2017. Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
- ^ "Elise Christie wins 1,500m short-track speed skating heat and Charlotte Gilmartin qualifies". Sky Sports. 17 February 2018. Archived from the original on 5 November 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
- ^ "Heats results". Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ "Heats results". Archived from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ "CHRISTIE PRAISES TEAMMATES AS BRITISH QUARTET WIN MIXED RELAY BRONZE". Team GB. 2 February 2019. Archived from the original on 20 August 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
- ^ "Winter Olympics: Speed skater Kathryn Thomson goes from furniture shop to second Games". BBC Sport. 4 February 2022. Archived from the original on 4 February 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
- ^ "Ayrshire speed skater Kathryn Thomson hopeful £22k gamble will pay off at Beijing Olympics". Yahoo! Sports. 4 February 2022. Archived from the original on 5 February 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
- ^ "All You Need to Know From Days 1 & 2 of the Short Track Speed Skating Selection Event". Ice Skating. 20 August 2021. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
- ^ "Final Day of Racing Closes GB Performance Squad Selection Event". Ice Skating. 26 August 2021. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
- ^ "Three Short Track Speed Skaters Selected for Beijing 2022". Team GB. 20 December 2021. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
- ^ "Winter Olympics: Short-Track Skating – Women's 500m". BBC Sport. 5 February 2022. Archived from the original on 5 February 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
- ^ "Winter Olympics 2022 - GB's Kathryn Thomson out of 1000m as Suzanne Schulting and Arianna Fontana progress untroubled". Eurosport. 9 February 2022. Archived from the original on 3 December 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
- ^ Team GB [@TeamGB] (16 February 2022). "Following tests this afternoon it has been decided that Kat Thomson will not compete in the women's 1500m short track competition on medical grounds" (Tweet) – via Twitter.