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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

PARIS – With Spain Park High School and the city of Hoover behind him, Curtis Thompson took the world’s biggest stage in Paris, France for his second Olympic Games.

While the Jags throws coach missed out on a medal in the men’s javelin throw, he still got a lot out of the experience.

“It was great,” Thompson said. “It was good having people in the stands, it was great having family and friends being able to get out there and experience the Olympics as well.”

Thompson entered the Olympics with a great run of momentum after winning his second U.S. Olympic Team Trials at the University of Oregon on Sunday, June 23, claiming the 2024 national championship with a throw of 84.03 meters.

The three-time national champion was the lone American competing in the field of the best 32 javelin throwers in the world during qualifying on Tuesday, August 6.

Thompson did not reach the finals as he finished 13th out of the 16 throwers in Group A with a throw of 76.79 meters. However, he still was grateful to get the chance to compete and add an Olympic berth to his list of accomplishments this season.

“It was definitely a different feel getting into these Olympic Games compared to Tokyo,” Thompson said. “I felt a little bit more prepared for these games and just having that kind of experience added on top for my career and then to be able to have this season be one of my second-best seasons ever in my career, so it’s pretty good.”

One of those reasons why this Olympics felt different for Thompson is because of the lack of COVID-19 restrictions that the Tokyo Games had in 2021.

As a result, he got to compete in front of a packed stadium cheering on every competitor, which he said brought a sense of normality to the competition.

“That crowd got really, really loud and in Paris, which was amazing to experience and be a part of and be in,” Thompson said. “And Tokyo, it was empty seats. Paris, they filled every almost every seat that you can probably see and it was just amazing to be in.”

Included among those tens of thousands of fans were his wife, mother-in-law and one of his best friends. It was the first time they were able to see him compete in the Olympics, and he said it was a great feeling to see his family and friends in the stands supporting him.

“In Tokyo, there was nobody that was allowed to get over that way due to COVID, so to be able to have my wife and her mom and one of my best friends get out there was amazing to kind of look up into the stands and see familiar faces that you know who are rooting for you,” Thompson said.

Thompson also got to participate in some of the Olympic festivities that he couldn’t do in Tokyo. He was part of the Team USA boat during the opening ceremony after missing out on the festivities with the rest of the country’s athletes.

Both during the ceremony and throughout the Olympics at the U.S. training facility, he got to interact with Olympians from other sports like basketball, boxing, shooting and rugby sevens. He enjoyed being part of a unique opening ceremony and interacting with other elite athletes.

“It was cool,” Thompson said of the ceremony. “That was my first opening ceremony. I wasn’t able to do Tokyo so to be able to be a part of that opening ceremony for the first time that’s ever been held on a boat, and I think the coolest part was being around other Olympians from other sports and just being around so many high-level athletes as myself.”

After Thompson finished competing in qualifying, he and his friends and family stayed and got in some sightseeing around Paris and enjoyed the city’s landmarks with a unique event like the Olympics taking place.

He usually limits himself before he competes to ensure he is in the best condition that he can be in during the event, but once the javelin throw finished, he got to step outside the Stade de France and take everything in.

“Normally when I go on to these trips for track meets, I don’t have the luxury to be able to up and walk around and sightsee like some people may think I do, mainly because you kind of got to save your legs and kind of stay off your feet for a majority at a time so that you can be prepared for what I went out there for,” Thompson said. “But to be done and to be able to kind of sightsee that way was pretty amazing.”

Throughout the entire process, the Spain Park community cheered on its coach, including with multiple social media posts sending their support to Paris.

For Thompson, the Jags have played a key role in his return to the Olympics. Throughout his four-year career with the high school, the coaches have allowed him to simultaneously train for big competitions like the Olympics, even if it means leaving the team to go compete.

He is grateful for their support and the chance to give back to the next generation and grow the sport through coaching.

“They allow me to continue to pursue my dreams with the support of and understanding of how my training and how everything goes, but also to be able to coach the youth and try to grow an interest in a sport that I’ve grown an interest to love, to see younger athletes kind of grow an interest into that whether they take it to college or want to take it to the next level or just to see them enjoying something as a whole and seeing improvement,” Thompson said.

With as much as the Spain Park program has given him, Thompson is glad that he can represent the Jags on the track and field’s biggest stage and show all of the athletes that he coaches what is possible.

“It’s amazing to be a part of that program, and yet to be able to go into the big stage and give the opportunity for Spain Park to have an Olympian that they can cheer for, it means a lot,” Thompson said.