JOLYON THOMPSON
Born November 12, 1961 in Georgetown, Guyana
2013 World Masters Games, Gold and Bronze Team Canada
2014 Men’s Doubles 35 Gold Medalists COBA Open and Masters
2015 Men’s Doubles Gold Medalists COBA Open and Masters
2019 Men’s Doubles Silver Medalist COBA Open and Masters
2005 Port Hope Civic Award Athletics
Jolyon has been involved in sports from an early age. He has participated in track, soccer, cricket, swimming,
judo, and chess. At age 15, Jolyon immigrated to Canada with his family and focused on badminton.
Jolyon attended the University of Toronto where he played on and coached the men’s varsity badminton
team. During his seven years of coaching at UofT from 1981 to 1987, his teams won six OUAA titles. Jolyon
subsequently started the Port Hope Junior Badminton Club under the auspices of the Port Hope Racquet
Club (PHRC). The Port Hope Junior Badminton Club has won eleven of twenty titles at the Central Ontario
Badminton Association (COBA) Junior championships under Jolyon’s coaching. His team has had players
win Provincial Junior B titles and two have competed at the Canadian Junior Badminton Championships.
Jolyon represented Canada at the 2013 World Master Games in 2013 in Torino, Italy. He earned a bronze
medal in the competitive men’s singles 45 category and a bronze medal in the open men’s doubles 40
category with Ian Assing. His third bronze medal was in the open 35 team event. Jolyon also won the gold
medal in the open men’s doubles 45 with teammate Ian Assing. Jolyon was the honoured recipient of the
Keith Hollands Award for “outstanding contribution to the sport of badminton” in 2013. Jolyon has coached
the Junior Badminton team representing COBA at the Ontario Winter Games on six occasions, including a
silver medal win in 2014. In 2016 he was hired as the head coach for the Centennial College Colts varsity
badminton team. Jolyon has coached his team to OCAA Regional and Provincial medal wins as well as a
CCAA Bronze medal win in mixed doubles in the 2018-19 season.
Jolyon has continued to give back to the sport of badminton as an international official. He has umpired at
numerous Canadian Championships since 1990. Furthermore, Jolyon has represented Canada as an official
at the Commonwealth Games (1994), the Pan Am Junior Championships (2000), World Senior Badminton
Championships (2011) and the World Junior Badminton Championships (2004 and 2018).
