John Garcia Thompson Explained

John Garcia Thompson (born 8 June 1979 in Palma, Majorca, Spain)[1] is a British beach volleyball player.

, Garcia Thompson is tall and weighs .[1] He competes for the Palma Son Amar club and is coached by Alfredo Zamora.[1]

From 2009 to 2010 Garcia Thompson competed alongside Robin Miedzybrodzki.[2] In 2011 he teamed up with fellow British player Steve Grotowski; the pair achieved a best finish of seventeenth at the 2011 Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) Open in Shanghai, China.[2] At the 2011 Swatch World Tour Prague Open the pair defeated the top seeded American pairing of Casey Jennings and Kevin Wong 25 - 23, 24 - 22 in the first round of competition but were then beaten 19 - 21, 16 - 21 by Josh Binstock and Richard Van Huizen of Canada in the second round.[3]

Garcia Thompson and Grotowski were selected to compete for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics after being chosen ahead of Gregg Weaver and Jody Gooding.[4] Both pairs competed in the minimum twelve FIVB events require for qualification with Grotowski and Garcia Thompson earning 522 rankings points compared to Weaver and Gooding's 354 points.[4] The pair qualified for the Games despite public funding for the men's event being withdrawn in 2010.[5] [6] Grotowski and Garcia Thompson will become the first ever British men to compete in beach volleyball at the Olympics.[4] [7] The men's event will take place between 28 July and 9 August at Horse Guards Parade.[8] Garcia Thompson said of his selection "For an athlete, there is nothing better than being selected to compete at an Olympic Games".[7]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: John Garcia Thompson: Team GB. British Olympic Association. 14 July 2012.
  2. Web site: Athlete's biography. Fédération Internationale de Volleyball. 14 July 2012.
  3. Web site: Top qualification seeds knocked out of Prague Open. Fédération Internationale de Volleyball. 15 July 2012.
  4. Web site: LONDON 2012: Beach volleyball's Grotowski and Garcia Thompson secure late inclusion in Team GB. morethanthegames. 14 July 2012. 6 July 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120713073841/http://www.morethanthegames.co.uk/summer-sports/0617571-london-2012-beach-volleyballs-grotowski-and-garcia-thompson-secure-late-inclus. 13 July 2012.
  5. News: Hope. Nick. British volleyball teams lose all public funding. 15 July 2012. 1 October 2010. BBC Sport.
  6. Web site: Team GB: Which athletes have booked their London 2012 places?. BBC Sport. 15 July 2012.
  7. Web site: Four Athletes from Three Sports Added to Team GB. British Olympic Association. 15 July 2012. 6 July 2012.
  8. Web site: Beach Volleyball - About. Official site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. 15 July 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120712045731/http://www.london2012.com/beach-volleyball/about/. 12 July 2012.