"I do just feel like such a phony being" - When Gabby Thomas opened up on being a pro track and field athlete despite not wanting it at first

Gabby Thomas once said that being the "only" pro track athlete who didn't want to pursue track and field at first made her look like a fraudulent person. Thomas won three golds - in the 200m, 4x100m and 4x200m events - to emerge as one of the most successful athletes at the 2024 Paris Games.

Gabby Thomas made her second Olympic appearance in Paris after winning a silver and a bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She concluded her Paris Olympic campaign with three golds to extend her Olympic medal tally to five.

Thomas was initially inclined to play soccer and softball, but her mother Jennifer Randall almost forcefully signed her up for track after watching her run at blistering speed on the football field. Thomas joined the track and field team of Williston Northampton School and started her journey in middle school.

The 27-year-old pursued neurobiology at Harvard University at the undergraduate level, where she amassed 22 conference titles at six different athletic events. Gabby Thomas turned pro in 2018 but felt like a misfit in the track world as the only pro track athlete who didn't want to make a career in it.

Speaking on the 'A Slight Change of Plans' podcast by Maya Shankar in 2021, Thomas said:

"A lot of times I do just kind of feel like such a phony being like the only pro track athlete who didn't want to go into track and field whenever I talk about it to people... quite frankly, I didn't want to run." [8:23]

Gabby Thomas contemplated quitting track when she was competing at Harvard University. She thought she would not be able to handle the pressure of professional training groups.

"Running track in college, there were many times where I thought I would quit. 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," the Olympian said. (via Sportstar)

Gabby Thomas gears up for women-only track event Athlos hosted by Serena Williams' husband Alex Ohanian

Athletics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 14 - Source: Getty

After her success at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Gabby Thomas announced her next outing would be the women-only track event Athlos, hosted by Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian. The event is set to take place on September 26, 2024.

Her Instagram caption read:

"Back at it today! Next race @athlos in New York on Sep. 26."

The prize money for the winners will be $60,000, reportedly ten times more than the Diamond League. Ohanian also revealed that the winners would be awarded 'Tiffany' crowns instead of medals.