Gabby Thomas, who wanted to quit athletics several times, is now an Olympic gold medalist
PARIS—Olympic 200-meter champion Gabby Thomas wanted to walk away from athletics on several occasions, she said on Tuesday following her dominant victory in Paris.The 27-year-old American, who captured bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Games and silver at last year’s world championships, secured her first global title after beating 100-m champion Julien Alfred and compatriot Brittany Brown to win gold.
“Running track in college, there were many times where I thought I would quit,” Thomas, a neurobiology undergraduate at Harvard, told reporters. “When I went pro, growing pains of joining a professional training group are real, there are a lot of egos, I didn’t think that I was going to be cut out for it.
“I told my agents ‘I’m out and I’m done.’ I wrote an email, I said ‘I’m done running professionally, I’m going to go pursue other endeavors with my life.’”
Thomas said she initially took up running grudgingly at the encouragement of her mother Jennifer Randall, who saw how fast she was on the soccer field.
Master’s degree
Thomas ran for Harvard while completing a degree in neurobiology before earning a Master’s in public health from the University of Texas.
She adopted a pug named Rico, saying the dog helped her through trying times when running was not going well.“In every race that I ran, there were a lot of eyeballs on me,” she said. “There were a lot of expectations. And that was definitely a lot more pressure. And I had to adapt.
“That’s what all of the best athletes do. That’s what all of the greats do. You’re forced to adapt when you’re faced with a new challenge.”
Thomas was still not entirely prepared for the ear-splitting screams of a jam-packed Stade de France.
“I envisioned this race over and over from start to finish,” she said. “I was not prepared for how I was going to feel when I crossed the line as an Olympic champion.
“There’s no way to really prepare yourself for that. Tokyo Olympics was a lot of fun and it was great for me to experience that before coming here. But there is nothing like walking into a stadium of 80,000 people and they’re screaming and they’re right on top of you.
“That is a lot of pressure to put on someone and a lot of pressure for us to kind of deal with.”
It was the first time since 1976 that there was no Jamaican on the podium in the Olympic women’s 200 m.
Thomas clocked 21.83 for the victory.“I don’t think it could have gone any better,” said Thomas, who added that she had taken inspiration from watching teammates Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson, and even Alfred in the men’s and women’s 100 m.
“My coach told me the only thing I need is to get the lead and finish strong and I did that.”
There were no complaints from Alfred.
“I did feel ready for the 200 m tonight,” she said. “I feel good, no complaints at all.
“First Olympics, to go back with gold and silver, I can’t ask for more than that.” —REUTERS, AFP
