Event details
The Olympian's Mindset: How to Unleash World-Class Performance in Your Life
Presenter: Obadele “Oba” Thompson is a Barbados-born Olympic medalist in track and field, lawyer, author, and speaker. He won Barbados’ first and only Olympic medal as an independent country by placing third in the 100 metres at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He is a three-time Olympian (1996, 2000, and 2004), and a finalist at each Olympics.
Obadele's Olympic success followed an outstanding collegiate career at the University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP) where he amassed several prestigious awards for his academics, athletics, and leadership. As a collegian, he won four individual NCAA sprint titles and established two world records.
He was an eleven-time NCAA All-American and a sixteen-time Western Athletic Conference(WAC) Champion. In 1996, he became a member of Beta Gamma Sigma (BGS) honor society, the highest recognition business students worldwide can receive from an Association to Advance Collegian Schools of Business accredited business program. In 1998, he became a UTEP Alumni Association Top Ten Senior awardee, and received the NCAA Today's Top VIII Award (now the NCAA Today's Top 10) for outstanding leadership, athletics and academics.
After retiring from a decade-long professional athletics career, Thompson published his first book, Secrets of a Student-Athlete: A Reality Check. Thompson was a keynote speaker at the official launch of the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup in Barbados and has participated in leadership development programs, including with the West Indies Cricket Team. He has also served variously as a speaker and panellist on matters related to sports management, performance, and anti-doping.
Thompson was inducted into the UTEP Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2007, and into the UTEP Athletics and Drake Relays Halls of Fame in 2011.
