Cayman Islands Olympic pioneers: Kareem Streete-Thompson

Throughout June, the Cayman Compass is publishing a series on Caymanians who first represented their beloved isles on the grandest stage in sports – ultimately paving the way for all those who came after, including the line-up heading to this year’s Paris Olympics.

Among the thousands of athletes to arrive in Barcelona, Spain, in the summer of 1992, was Caymanian long jumper and sprinter Kareem Streete-Thompson, who was making his Olympic debut.

At the time, the 1992 Olympics was the biggest sporting event ever held in terms of participants, bringing together nearly 10,000 athletes across 169 nations including the returning South Africa delegation, which was re-invited after a 32-year ban from participating due to its policies of apartheid.

Although the Olympics was politicised in those days, Streete-Thompson, who was 19 at the time, couldn’t care less and was there to have the time of his life, he recalled to the Compass.

“Was I prepared to compete at that level mentally? No,” he said. “I was walking on air.”

Rewind to the days when Streete-Thompson, son of Cayman’s cricket legend, the late Tommy Thompson, couldn’t imagine being an Olympian, only enjoying the simpler things in life along Middle Road, George Town, where he grew up.

“There was this long stretch of road and everyday my friends would be riding up and down, climbing trees, running around barefoot and playing football on the streets,” he said, noting that his father tried to also get him into cricket, but his passion wasn’t there.

“My idea of fun was jumping off the roof; once I did it the first time and realised I didn’t break my leg, I was like, ‘This is cool’.”

His adrenaline-fuelled hobbies in his neighbourhood led him to compete in sports days for his school, West Bay Primary.

“It was something I looked forward to every year. I didn’t think I was going to be any good at it, but I enjoyed it,” he said, noting that when he got to middle school, that was the true beginning of his road to the Olympics.

“I joined Jerry Harper’s CAF Club because I heard he was taking the team to the US, and they would leave half day on a Friday, and I was like yeah, I want to be a part of that.”

However, Harper did not take to Streete-Thompson right away.

“He realised that I wasn’t serious about it, so that initial stage, he didn’t really pay much attention to me, so I made it a matter of principle to make him notice me.”

At the 1987 CARIFTA Games – Streete-Thompson’s first opportunity to represent Cayman – he won gold in the long jump. He would defend that title over the next three years including at his final CARIFTA, where he set the U20 long jump record of 7.94 metres, which stands to this day – accomplishments that caught Harper’s attention.

Streete-Thompson admitted that while he built an unbreakable bond with Harper, his late coach always kept him minding his Ps and Qs.

“The way that he coached, there was always room for improvement. He taught me to never assume that you have reached the top, and that lesson shaped my entire career; I have him to thank.”

Barcelona Games

And so, a young athlete, already boasting accomplishments, graduated to the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona – where Streete-Thompson was joined by nine other Caymanians for the biggest team at those games to date.

Spanish paralympic archer Antonio Rebollo shot and ignited the cauldron using a flaming arrow, lit from the flame of the Olympic torch at the Games opening ceremony – a moment that Streete-Thompson noted he will never forget.

“It was the greatest opening ceremony I’ve ever experienced,” he said. “I will never forget it for the rest of my life.”

Prior to competition, Streete-Thompson noted that he was not disciplined with his diet at the Games and, to make matters worse, he was suffering from lingering injuries.

“I was eating all kinds of things before the competition and probably gained about 10 pounds during my time in the village,” he said. “All eyes were on me. I thought I was the greatest thing since sliced bread.”

But Streete-Thompson would wind up eating piece of humble pie once it was time to line up inside the Olympic stadium.

He ran his 100m heat in 10.78 seconds, before it was time to perform in the long jump, where Streete-Thompson admitted he was distracted.

“By the time I lined up to jump, I was pretty much out of it,” he said. “My coach was shouting from the line and I wasn’t hearing any of it. I was like, ‘What is this?'”

He finished that event with a leap of 7.39m, placing 38th overall.

Although it wasn’t his best performance, after having dominated international competitions and during his freshman term at Rice University in the lead-up to the games, Streete-Thompson didn’t let it ruin his first Olympic experience.

“A 19 year old left to his devices? It was nothing but fun times after that.”

Sydney Games

However, after missing out on the 1996 Olympics, he put the fun and games behind him to qualify for the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia.

He won silver for Cayman at the 1999 Pan American Games in long jump and that same year, became the first Caymanian to make it to a World Championship finals, where he ran the 100m.

“Everything I did was intentional; the food, the training, it was all apart of a plan,” he said.

Streete-Thompson touched down in Sydney with fellow Caymanians, sprinter Cydonie Mothersille and sailor Tomeka McTaggart – who were making their Olympic debuts.

He also recalls meeting the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, who were also competing in their first Olympics.

In his long jump competition, Streete-Thompson hit the sandpit with a jump of 7.99m, placing 13th overall – 25 places above his first Olympics results but off his personal best leap of 8.63m, which he set while representing the US in 1994.

Athens Olympics

Streete-Thompson’s third and final Olympics was in August of 2004 in Athens, Greece – approximately one month before his nation was devastated by Hurricane Ivan.

It was a month of celebration, just before a month of disaster, as Caymanian Heather Roffey became the first female to represent Cayman in swimming, and Mothersille became the first to compete in a semi-final at the Games.

Streete-Thompson finished his 100m heat in second place second behind eventual gold-medal winner Justin Gatlin of the US. Streete-Thompson’s 10.15-second performance in the heat advanced him to the quarterfinals, but he did not move on from there.

“I ran 10.15 in Athens and shocked myself,” he said, although in 1997, he ran a blazing personal best of 9.96 seconds. Streete-Thompson also competed in the long jump in Athens, where he finished 20th overall.

“When you look at the athletes that win medals at the Olympics, you are talking about three people [in each event] – it will always be one of the most difficult things anyone could ever do in the history of humanity.”

Streete-Thompson’s three Olympic performances aren’t a true reflection of his achievements over his years of competing for Cayman, but he noted being one of the pioneers at the Summer Games for his country is something near and dear to his heart.

“Being the first is also one of the most painful places to be,” he said. “Cayman athletes of today enjoy things now that I had to fight tooth and nail for, but my love for representing my country surpassed everything.”