When LSU senior hurdler Joshua Thompson lines up at the starting blocks, he is running for more than the prestigious LSU track and field logo on his uniform. Thompson is also representing his family name, and he isn’t the first one.
Thompson is a third generation athlete — his grandfather and father ran hurdles in high school, and his father continued his athletic career on Kent State’s football team.
But Thompson’s career turned out to be more promising than the two generations before him and not just because of his natural athletic ability.
“[Thompson] is a natural athlete, but on top of being an athlete, he has the determination and aggressiveness that he needs to be a winner,” said LSU sophomore hurdler Jordan Moore.
As a freshman at Pittsburgh and an Ohio state high school champion in the men’s 110-meter hurdles, Thompson established himself as one of the world’s premier junior hurdlers when he earned a runner-up finish in the men’s junior 110-meter hurdles at the 2012 USA Junior Championships.
The second-place finish gave Thompson an opportunity to represent the United States at the International Association of Athletics Federations’ World Junior Championships in Barcelona, Spain.
“To this day, it is still the best time I ever had with a group of people running track,” Thompson said. “I had an amazing time meeting new people from other countries. I’m still friends with them today.”
The competition concluded with Thompson qualifying for the men’s junior 110-meter event finals and finishing in ninth place in the world.
When Thompson returned to the United States and the University of Pittsburgh, he began seeking a transfer to the Southeastern Conference because the weather conditions are better for training, and the competition is more stiff compared with the Big East.
“[Thompson] sought out to transfer, and I know the coach at Pittsburgh, who highly recommended that we take a look at him,” said LSU track and field coach Dennis Shaver. “He 
got the opportunity to come to a climate where it’s better to train at year round, and of course our program is at a different level than what the program is at Pittsburgh.”
Shaver said Thompson’s transition from the Big East to the SEC was a challenge for him in his first year at LSU, but he began reaping the benefits of training in the SEC last year. He has elevated his fitness to a level where he will contribute significantly during the indoor and outdoor seasons for the Tigers.
Thompson advanced to the NCAA semifinals in the men’s 110-meter hurdles for the first time in his collegiate career and ran the third-fastest time in qualifying for the men’s 4×100-meter relay at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last year. He has already claimed two event titles in the men’s indoor 60-meter hurdles through three meets in his senior season.
“Going from Pitt to LSU has been difficult, especially because the competition in my event are better than me sometimes,” Thompson said. “But I like the competition and that I’m not the best one on the track. I am right up there with them, and as long as I keep doing what I need to do on the track, I will be one of the top competitors in the SEC.”