"I don't like this idea" - Gabby Thomas makes her stand clear on imposter syndrome & Ilona Maher controversy 

Gabby Thomas expressed her thoughts on imposter syndrome and echoed the views of US Olympian Ilona Maher. The Rugby star has repeatedly denied experiencing it and was involved in a tense argument with an interviewer over the issue earlier this month.

Maher was speaking in an interview with CNN’s Christina Macfarlane, and when asked whether she had experienced imposter syndrome in her life, she replied:

“I don't have that. I don't know what that is. It's like where you don't feel like you deserve it? No, I don't think I have it. I feel like I deserve what I've gotten."

Macfarlane questioned how was that possible, an action that raised eyebrows over social media. However, Maher reiterated that she was deserving of the success she had achieved, and her fellow Olympian Gabby Thomas agreed with her.

The three-time Olympic champion said she loved the confidence Maher had and didn't like the idea of giving an expression of 'immense humility'. Speaking during an appearance on 'Not Gonna Lie With Kylie Kelce' podcast, Thomas said:

"I love what she says. I love that type of confidence because absolutely I think that when you earn something you should feel like you earned it, you should feel like you deserve it and I don't like this idea that you should into a space kind of feeling timid and kind of giving people the impression of this immense humility right, it's like humility is important but if you earn something like embody that and I definitely get that." [26:20 onwards]

While Thomas further added that she also loved having that confidence, the five-time Olympian admitted to experiencing doubts about her talent during her time at Harvard and at the start of her professional career in 2019.

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"I'm not sure if I'm gonna pass this course" - Gabby Thomas recalls doubting herself during freshman year at Harvard

Gabby Thomas at the Olympic Games- Source: Getty

Gabby Thomas is not only one of the fastest sprinters in history, but she is also one of the most well-educated on the circuit as well. The Olympic champion earned her bachelor's degree in Neurobiology from the University of Harvard and confessed to having doubted her capabilities during her freshman year.

"When I first got to Harvard I knew I had earned it but I definitely felt like I'm a little uncomfortable right now," she said in the aforementioned podcast. "Like I'm a little bit over my head with this biochem class like I'm not sure if I'm gonna pass this course but you figure it out like you enter those spaces and you figure it out and you find a way and that's how you become a winner and that's kind of how I navigate my life."

Thomas also holds a master of public health degree in epidemiology from the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston and now volunteers at a clinic in the same city.