Profile
Name: Bronwyn Thompson (she’ll answer to Bronwyn Chipperfield)
Sport: Athletics - Long Jump - ranked number 2 in the world at the end of 2006
Profession: Paediatric Physiotherapist / Athlete
Personal Best: 7.00m
Career Highlights:
- 16th Sydney 2000 Olympics
- 2nd GoodWill Games 2001
- 4th Athens 2004 Olympics
- 1st Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games
- 2nd IAAF Grand Prix Final 2006
- 4th World Cup 2006
Records:
- Australian Record: 6.88m (2001-02), 7.00m (2002-)
- Oceania Record: 7.00m (2002-)
- Commonwealth Record: 7.00 (2002-04)
- Commonwealth Games Record: 6.97m (2006-)
- Meet records (including Melbourne Track Classic, Australian Track & Field Championships and numerous international meets in Europe)
Awards:
- Female Australian Telstra Athlete of the Year 2006
Goals:
- Medal in the 2007 World Championships
- Gold Medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics
- Reclaim the Commonwealth Record
- To remain a strong advocate for athletics in Australia
Coach: The best coach in the world - Gary Bourne (lots of important letters here)
Every athlete has their challenges and successes. A week after her greatest success at the 2004 Olympics, Bronwyn embarked on my greatest challenge. Bronwyn hyperextended her knee in a meet in Reiti (Italy) requiring extensive reconstructive surgery. Thanks to the assistance of a great medical team (particularly of note her physiotherapist - Shane Lemcke), the patience of her coach and the ongoing support of her family and now hubby, Bronwyn clawed her way back into form and narrowly missed a personal best in the Commonwealth Games in 2006, setting a new Commonwealth Games Record.
Bronwyn balances her athletics with her career as a physiotherapist and devotes her energy towards promoting and improving her sport, including the following roles:
- Board Member of Athletics Australia
- Chairperson of the Track and Field Athletes Commission
- Australian Team Captain for the 2007 World Championships
- Athlete Ambassador for Queensland Little Athletics
- Athletics Team Leader for the 2006 Commonwealth Games
- Keynote speaker at meets, dinners, functions and awards evenings
- Author of a column in the weekly publication of Inside Queensland Track and Field News
- Mentor for numerous athletes
Mottos:
- Be what you want to be!
- It’s the journey that’s important, not the destination.
- Run fast. Jump long.
2007 has proven to be a challenging year for Bronwyn. Her sights are firmly set on Beijing Olympics for 2008 and hopes to go at least one better than 2004 so gets to stand on the podium.
