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Gabby Thomas trained for the last time at home before departing for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The 200m Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist earned the most coveted 200m qualification for the Games after clocking 21.81s at the 2024 US Olympic Track and Field Trials.
Thomas ran the 200m race in a stellar 21.61s at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Trials. It was the second-fastest time of all time just behind the world record holder, Florence Griffith Joyner. In the final of the postponed Summer Games in 2021, she finished in 21.87s to claim the bronze behind Elaine Thompson-Herah and Christine Mboma.
Gabby Thomas earned the 200m silver and was part of the gold-winning 4x100m relay team at the 2023 World Championships. Her 200m performances at the 2024 Texas Relays and NYC Grand Prix secured her back-to-back titles. She was also part of the gold-winning 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams at the World Relays in Nassau.
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Her 200m feat in 21.81s at the 2024 US Olympic Trials finished her on top, outpacing the 100m world champion, Sha'Carri Richardson. Since it's time to take flight for Paris, Thomas hit the practice session for the last time at home, as posted on her Instagram story.
She posed for an enthusiastic but sweaty selfie, captioning:
"Last training day at home!!"
Gabby Thomas studied neurobiology and global health as an undergraduate at Harvard University and was also a student-athlete. However, the thought of making the Olympic team looked far-fetched during college. She then shifted to Austin, Texas, for her post-graduate degree in epidemiology and enrolled in an elite running program under track coach Tonja Buford-Bailey.
Since then, she has pushed her limits to reach where she is.
“I was not even close to being an Olympian myself. But I forced myself to go train with them, and I forced myself to get my butt kicked in practice every day for two years, so that when the time came, I was ready to make the Olympic team," she said. (via Sports Illustrated)
Gabby Thomas - "Each day, you make a decision that you belong there"
Thomas will take a trip to the second consecutive Olympics of her career. But there were times when the athlete wished to quit her sport but didn't because she eventually registered that she belonged to this place.
"It is really hard. And there are definitely days where you think you don’t want to do it. There are so many days where I wanted to quit, but you just do it. Each day, you make a decision that you belong there. And eventually you do," she shared with Sports Illustrated.
Gabby Thomas will vie for the 200m gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics since she missed out on it in Tokyo.
