All athletes eventually reach a point where they’re forced to give up their sport after years of hard work, whether it’s due to physical limitations, poor performance, or a personal decision. And they typically retire, or at least consider retirement, by the time they’re in their mid-30s.
Occasionally, however, we encounter an individual who deviates from this trajectory and remains in play.
This year? It’s Donald Thomas.
And the reason behind it is none other than his undying passion for the ‘high jump’ sport. A sport that he chose over the third most popular sport in the world after football and cricket, basketball.
Thomas used to be a basketball player while he attended Lindenwood University in Missouri, USA, and he was particularly good at slam dunks.
One time, he ate with one of his friends who was on the Track and Field team and was peering over the team’s high jumper as he put up his food tray. This was the conversation that transpired that afternoon:
Thomas: “That’s your high jumper?”
Friend: “Yeah,”
Thomas: “Shoot, I could beat him jumping,”
Friend: “Nah, you can’t beat him. He could jump 6’6″ (1.98m).”
Thomas: “I think I could do it,”
They then stopped eating and headed straight down to the jumping facility, where Thomas cleared a height of 6’6″ (1.98 m) on his first attempt and a height of 7’0” (2.13 m) on his third attempt, setting a new school record.
The rest, after that, is history.
The many accomplishments of Thomas
He has accomplished many things since then and has reached the podium many times, with the most prominent being his high jump competition in the 2007 World Championship in Osaka, where he reached a height of 2.35 meters at 23 years old, his personal best so far.
The following year, Thomas competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics for the first time. Sadly, he didn’t make it to the finals and ended up with a 21st place finish, but he still remembers the pride of being there and just soaking it all in.
“It’s a feeling like none other,” Thomas said. “It’s like going to war for your country.”
True enough, Thomas, who loved the sport itself and the idea of representing and ‘fighting’ for his country, has been going back to competitions, year after year, even after his comrades have fallen down.
And after 16 years of rising and falling, Thomas, who’s now approaching his 40s, is still going strong.
When asked why he still wanted to compete even after so many of his competitors had retired, his answer was:
“I guess, I want to achieve more,” he said. “I felt like I had it in me to get into the final and possibly contend for a medal. It just didn’t go my way. I feel I can do it, so I just got to keep it going.”
Perhaps that’s why Thomas has captivated sports fans for so long. In so many ways, he’s not only teaching us how to dream big but also how perseverance is the key to achieving it.
In 2021, Thomas said these words in an interview that perfectly captured his outlook on life:
“I just want to be an inspiration to anyone out there who has dreams and goals or who wants to do something but are not sure what they could. Don’t be scared to take a leap of faith.”
So many people look up to him, including his 17-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter, who are both involved in sports.
The Superhero?
“They think I’m a superhero,” he smiled. “They always look up to me and admire what I do. I’m sure they will be disappointed I didn’t get into the final, but that’s what it is. You compete against the world, and sometimes you fall short.”- Donald Thomas on his competition in the 2023 World Athletics Championships, Budapest
If we go by the dictionary, technically, Thomas fits the description of a hero, an individual who is loved or looked up to because of their courage, accomplishments, or qualities of nobility.
In his entire career, Thomas, in his moments of strength and weakness, triumph and failure, has shown us the true definition of grit and resilience. His passion for the sport he chose so many years ago has withstood the test of time.
When asked if he still enjoyed the sport, he answered:
“Yeah, the jumping part is easy,” he says. “It’s the technical aspects of the jump I find a little harder but in terms of the natural spring, that’s the easy part. I just gotta stay patient, stay tall throughout the running and get straight up. Sometimes I tend not to do it, or I take too many jumps in order to get to the right position. But I just gotta keep working.”
“I just gotta keep working.”, Despite so many failures and after so many years of working hard, he still says these words, truly a hero for all the athletes out there who have lost hope.
This is the mindset that has enabled him to progress to this point, and it is the mindset that is likely to propel him further in his career. He still has a long way to go, and there are still many hurdles to overcome.
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The photo above is from a YouTube screen grab