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Gabby Thomas was crowned the titleist of the women's long sprints event group at the Grand Slam Track Kingston meet, winning $100,000. After the competition, the American’s coach, Tonja Buford-Bailey, penned an emotional note for her, and the sprinter was quick to respond to Tonja’s words.
Thomas's campaign had an incredible start at the inaugural GST meet. Running the 200m, where she is the reigning Olympic champion, she clocked a time of 22.62s to claim the win, finishing ahead of Marileidy Paulino and Dina Asher-Smith.
Up next, Thomas ran the 400m distance. While the American wasn't able to outdo former World Champion Salwa Eid Naser for the win, she did hold off Paulino, the reigning World and Olympic champion in the distance, to finish second. With this, the 28-year-old was crowned the Slam champion in Kingston, having finished her campaign with a total of 20 points.
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After the competition, Thomas' coach, Tonja Buford-Bailey, shared a snap of the two of them together on Instagram, writing,
“@grandslamtrack CHAMPION 200/400. This smile is my reason why.”
Re-sharing the post on her Instagram story, Gabby Thomas wrote,
“We did it again @baileytonja 🏆
Thomas has been training with Buford-Bailey since 2019 and has won three Olympic golds and a World Championship title under her guidance.
Gabby Thomas reflects on winning the Grand Slam Track meet
For Gabby Thomas, Grand Slam Track Kingston marked her first individual competitive outing of 2025. The American started her season at the Texas Relays, competing in the 4x400m and 4x100 events.
In Kingston, Thomas has an impressive individual season debut. After her win in the 200m, her second-place finish in the 400m saw her register a personal best of 49.14s.
Reflecting on being crowned champion at Grand Slam Track Kingston, Thomas told media,
“I mean there's nothing like celebrating here in Kingston, with this fan base and my family. The energy today was incredible here, so that was really exciting.”
She went on to call the overall experience of the event ‘incredible', saying,
“The overall experience has just been incredible. This is such an amazing event. A lot of athletes showed up and showed out, a lot of money on the line and the energy was great.”
After her dominant performance in Kingston, Gabby Thomas will now return to action at Grand Slam Track Miami. The meet is scheduled to take place between May 2-4 at the Ansin Sports Complex.
