"Be coachable" - Gabby Thomas gives very strongly worded advice to high school athletes

Gabby Thomas shared valuable life lessons for high school athletes and stressed the need to be open to new ideas. The American sprinter is one of the fastest in the world and won the Olympic gold medal in the 200m dash last season.

Thomas shared the advice in a video message on her TikTok handle after claiming to have noticed people debating about the training techniques in her comments section. The five-time Olympic medalist said it was really important to be open to the ideas of other people even if one didn't agree with them.

"I'm gonna give a little bit of advice that I feel like is really important being on your journey to being an athlete, whether that be in college or at the next level because under a lot of my videos, there have been a lot of arguments, especially my running videos where people get very defensive and I think a really important skill in life is learning how to listen to other people's ideas and share ideas and accepting that you could be wrong or accepting that two people can still be right," she said.

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The 28-year-old further stressed the need to be open to different coaching systems and claimed it was essential to become successful in track and field or any other sport for that matter.

"So, as you go on your athletic journeys, whether that be track and field or any other sport, make sure that you are open to learning, you're open-minded, and be coachable like you need to be coachable, especially if you're naturally athletic, naturally talented, naturally smart, you really have to reel it. So, make sure you are coachable, it's really essential in being successful," Gabby Thomas concluded.

Since turning professional in 2018, Thomas has been coached by former American Olympian Tonja Buford-Bailey. She has often credited the 1996 Olympic medalist for her remarkable success on the track. Thomas is the second fastest woman ever in the 200m dash and won the gold medal in a comfortable 21.83s at the Paris Olympics last year.

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"Really helped me fall in love" - Gabby Thomas credited high school coach for Olympic success

Gabby Thomas at the 2024Olympic Games - Source: Getty

Gabby Thomas' rise to the top of the sprinting world started at the Williston Northampton School, where she was coached by her math teacher, Martha McCullagh. The Olympic champion credited Martha for playing a big part in her career and said she made her fall in love with the sport.

"[Mrs. McCullagh] was a big part of my success and my support system [in] my hometown," Thomas told NBC. "She was always there for me. She really helped me fall in love with [running], and she saw the potential in me, and it just really encouraged me to stick with it," Thomas said.

Thanks to Martha, the 28-year-old later made it to the University of Harvard track team and won a staggering 22 conference titles as well as the NCAA 200m title.