Courtney Thompson

Courtney Lynn Thompson (born November 4, 1984) is an American former professional volleyball player who played as a setter for the United States women's national volleyball team. She won the 2005 national championship while playing for the University of Washington, and she set an NCAA record in career assists per game. Thompson won gold with the national team at the 2014 World Championship, silver at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, and bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Courtney Thompson
Personal information
Full nameCourtney Lynn Thompson
NationalityAmerican
Born (1984-11-04) November 4, 1984
Bellevue, Washington, U.S.
HometownKent, Washington, U.S.
Height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight146 lb (66 kg)
Spike109 in (276 cm)
Block104 in (263 cm)
College / UniversityUniversity of Washington
Volleyball information
PositionSetter
Number17 (2012), 3 (2016)
National team
2007–2016 United States
Honours
Women's volleyball
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place2012 LondonTeam
Bronze medal – third place2016 Rio de JaneiroTeam
World Championship
Gold medal – first place2014 ItalyTeam
FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix
Gold medal – first place2012 NingboTeam
Gold medal – first place2015 OmahaTeam
Silver medal – second place2016 BangkokTeam
Pan American Games
Bronze medal – third place2011 GuadalajaraTeam


Career

High school

Thompson attended Kentlake High School, where she played on the volleyball team and won three state titles. She was named the Washington State Player of the Year in 2002.[1]

College

Thompson played for the University of Washington volleyball team from 2003 to 2006. As a freshman, she started all 32 of the team's matches and set a school single-season record with 1,590 assists. She also led the Pac-10 in assists per game and was named to the Pac-10 All-Freshman team.[1]

The following year, Thompson broke the school record again with 1,643 assists, leading the conference in assists per game for the second straight time. She made the AVCA All-American first team and the Pac-10 All-Conference first team.[1]

In 2005, Thompson averaged 14.89 assists per game to lead the nation in that category. She also set a University of Washington school record with 4,841 career assists.[1] The Huskies won the NCAA Division I national championship.[2] For the second straight year, Thompson was named to the AVCA All-American first team and the All-Pac-10 first team. She also made the NCAA Championship All-Tournament team, won the Honda Sports Award,[3][4] and was nominated for an ESPY as the Top Female College Athlete.[1]

In 2006, her senior year, Thompson again led the nation in assists per game, with 14.50. She ended her college career with 6,531 career assists, which was a Pac-10 record.[1] Her career mark of 14.56 assists per game was a new NCAA record.[2] For the third year in a row, she was named to the AVCA All-American first team and the All-Pac-10 first team.[1]

International

Thompson joined the U.S. national team in January 2007. That year, she played in all five matches of the Pan American Games and helped the U.S. win the bronze medal.[2]

In 2009, Thompson played in 82 sets. She appeared in the Pan American Cup, the FIVB World Grand Prix, and the NORCECA Continental Championship. She averaged 3.72 assists per set.[2]

Thompson received limited playing time with the U.S. from 2010 to 2012. She helped the team win the bronze medal in the 2010 Pan American Cup, the bronze medal in the 2011 Pan American Games, and the gold medal in the 2012 FIVB World Grand Prix.[2]

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Thompson and the U.S. national team won the silver medal.[5]

Thompson was part of the USA national team that won the 2014 World Championship gold medal when the team defeated China 3-1 in the final match.[6][7]

Thompson won the bronze medal at the 2015 FIVB Club World Championship,[8] playing with the Swiss club Voléro Zürich.

Post-competitive career

Extending work that Thompson did following her competitive athletic career, launching Courtney Thompson's Mind.set Training,[9] Thompson joined Compete to Create and started as an author and performance coach[10] across motivational programs.

Since 2019, Thompson has published multiple thought leadership posts on determination and athletic preparation[11] and coaches professionals as a mindset coach[12] in programs for High Performance Mindset and about "Grit" and "Trust" in courses on Finding Your Best.[13] Courtney worked with Dr. Michael Gervais during her time as a competitive athlete and now works for Compete to Create, the coaching and training firm co-founded by Dr. Gervais, as a Mindset Coach relating critical experiences from her olympic career to professionals.[14]

Coaching

On April 19, 2021, Stanford announced it would be adding Thompson onto their coaching staff as an assistant coach on their women's volleyball team. Thompson replaced Alisha Glass Childress.[15]

Personal life

Thompson was born in Bellevue, Washington, and resides in Kent, Washington. She was the valedictorian at Kentlake High School. She has two brothers.[2] Thompson is a member of Athletes for Hope.[16]

In 2013, Courtney Thompson's journey to make the 2012 US Olympic roster was featured in Court & Spark,[17] a one-hour documentary written and directed by Jack Hamann,[18] featuring her experience qualifying for the US olympic team, including the difficulty of balancing personal life with world-class athletic travel.

Since 2017, Thompson has taken up running and joined the Women's field for the Boston Marathon[19] where she placed 30th with a time of 2 hours, 54 minutes and 41 seconds.[20] In 2018, Thompson completed a 35-mile ultra-marathon in Whistler, Canada.[21][22]

Awards

College

Clubs

National team

References
  1. "Courtney Thompson" Archived 2010-11-16 at the Wayback Machine. gohuskies.com. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  2. "Courtney Thompson". teamusa.org. July 1, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  3. Relations, Sanford Media (2018-08-27). "Olympian Courtney Thompson joins Pentagon Volleyball Academy". Sanford Sports Complex. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  4. "Volleyball". CWSA. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  5. Holby, Pete. "London 2012 Olympics: Team USA Settles For Silver As Brazil Takes Gold Medal Game 3-1". seattle.sbnation.com. August 11, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
  6. Benedetti, Valeria (2014-10-12). "Volley, Mondiale: Usa batte Cina 3-1". La Gazzetta dello sport (in Italian). Milan, Italy. Retrieved 2014-10-12.
  7. "USA win first World Championship title, China and Brazil complete the podium". Milan, Italy: FIVB. 2014-05-11. Retrieved 2014-05-11.
  8. "Volero get it right on third try". Zurich, Switzerland: FIVB. 10 May 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  9. "Positive Performance Offering Chance to Win Free Training with Courtney Thompson". Facebook. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  10. "Olympian and mindset coach Courtney Thompson to lead Legends for Kids volleyball clinic". Argus Leader. USA Today Network. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  11. "Author Page Courtney Thompson". Compete to Create. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  12. "About Us - Our Story". Compete to Create. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  13. "Finding Your Best". Compete to Create. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  14. "About Us - Our Story". Compete to Create. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  15. "Thompson Added to Staff".
  16. "AFH Roster". Athletes for Hope. Archived from the original on 2012-08-03. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
  17. "Court & Spark: A Volleyball Documentary". Amazon.com. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  18. "Court & Spark (2013)". Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  19. "Olympic, UW volleyball star Courtney Thompson ready for the 2017 Boston Marathon". The News Tribune. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  20. "Area women's runner braves cold to place 30th in Boston Marathon". The Winchester Star. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  21. "Pushing my limits with a 35-mile ultra-marathon race in Whistler, Canada". YouTube. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  22. "Pushing my Limits with a 35-mile ultra-marathon race". Compete to Create. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
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