With a time of 21.83, Gabby Thomas won the gold medal in the women’s 200-meter final at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Tuesday, Aug. 6, solidifying her status as one of the fastest athletes in the world.
The 27-year-old athlete previously took home a bronze medal in the women’s 200-meter and a silver medal in the women’s 4×100-meter relay during her Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games in 2021. She also ran as part of the gold-medal-winning 4×100-meter relay team at the 2023 World Athletics Championships.
But being an Olympian is just one of the many remarkable aspects of this star sprinter from Northampton, Massachusetts. Along with her track accolades, Thomas holds a bachelor’s degree in neurobiology from Harvard University and a master’s degree in public health from the University of Texas Health Science Center.
In a press conference following her victory, she said, “I want to inspire the youth… to find their passions and be successful. I want young girls to look at us [medal winners] as strong female athletes and feel like they can do it, too.”
But as Thomas told NBC News, she credits her success to “basically running track part-time” and “having other things in my life that helped fulfill my goals and make me feel fulfilled.”
In the months leading up to the Games, Thomas trained three to six hours a day, but in the evenings, she volunteered at a healthcare clinic in Austin, serving people without insurance.
Here’s everything to know about Team USA’s track star, whose pursuit of gold is apparently an intense “side hustle.”
Background
Gabrielle Lisa “Gabby” Thomas was born on December 7, 1996, in Atlanta, Georgia, to Jennifer Randall and Desmond Thomas, who is originally from Jamaica.
She has a twin brother, Andrew, and three younger siblings—Desi, Tyler, and Kim.
The sprinter stands at 5 feet, 10 inches tall, according to her official Olympic profile.
Love for Running
Thomas credits Allyson Felix as the reason she started running track. Although she played sports like softball and soccer in grade school, it wasn’t until she saw Felix running in the U.S. Olympic Trials for the 2008 Beijing Games on television at her grandmother’s house that she considered seriously pursuing track. She told Andscape, “I was always a fan watching her. I loved her grace and she’s so accomplished.”
Thomas became the seventh American woman to claim gold in the 200 meters and the first since Felix in 2012.
“It’s really easy to fall in love with running,” the late bloomer to the sport told USA Today. “It can be painful at times, but it’s such a beautiful sport. You set goals and go after them in the purest form — and when you achieve those goals, it’s such an addicting feeling.”
Harvard Graduate
Academics were always a priority for Thomas, who told NBC News that she was inspired to succeed at the highest level by her single mother, who waitressed and took classes to become a professor while raising her children.
Her hard work paid off with admission to Harvard University, where she studied neurobiology, minored in global health and health policy, and earned a citation in French. One of the classes she took, which focused on disparities in the U.S. healthcare system and their impact on people of color, inspired her to pursue a master’s in public health at the University of Texas, which she completed in May 2023.
College was also where Thomas’ track career took off. According to her official Olympics profile, she won an impressive 22 conference titles in six different track events during her time as a student and became the first NCAA sprint champion in Ivy League history, with a winning time of 22.38 seconds in her now-signature 200-meter race.
Prioritizes Sleep
As part of her master’s program, Thomas wrote a paper on sleep epidemiology—specifically, how different populations sleep and the barriers to good sleep faced by Black people in particular.
“It is most definitely the most important part of my training, and I can’t stress that enough,” Thomas told AP News. She reportedly begins her sleep routine by 8 p.m. most nights, turning off all her digital devices.
“As you mature as an athlete, you realize just how important sleep is,” Thomas told The Washington Post. “Not just to be an elite athlete, but just to be a functional human.”
Mental Health
To follow all her passions, this athlete takes a balanced approach, ensuring she makes time for rest and recovery.
“The way I became successful in track and field was basically running track part time, and I think for me, that’s really important for my mental health,” Thomas explained to NBC’s Kate Snow. “Just having other things in my life that help fulfill my goals and make me feel fulfilled.”
That includes volunteering at the Austin clinic and spending time with her furry companion.
“When things aren’t going super well, it’s easy to feel like I’m a failure. Instead of dwelling on that, I got a friend. Adopting Rico is the best thing I ever did,” Thomas said.
Proud Dog Mom
In the “hobbies” section of Thomas’s Olympics profile, it only mentions her pug Rico.
Thomas told Women’s Running that she adopted the dog when she moved to Austin and didn’t have any people friends yet, and called him her “savior” during tough times in her grad program or on the track.
Rico also has his own Instagram account.
