"Looks like good quality content"– Gabby Thomas opens up on what led to interaction with fiancé Spencer McManes

American track star Gabby Thomas has revealed what led to her first interaction with fiance and former college athlete, Spencer McManes. The pair got engaged in a romantic rooftop at an Airbnb in Texas on Monday (March 24) and made their engagement public yesterday. Thomas is an accomplished athlete, who specialises in the 100m and 200m sprints. She competed in collegiate athletics for Harvard University, where she was named the Ivy League’s Most Outstanding Track Performer in 2017 and 2018.

Her fiance, Spencer McManes, has a similar background as he also represented an Ivy League School in Yale. He played college football for the university where he was a quarterback. After graduating, McManes went on to work as a customer success manager at People.ai, before starting his own company in May 2023 called Kaviva. The non-alchoholic brand is based in Texas and comes in multiple flavours.

In an interview with Vogue magazine, Thomas revealed how her mutual friends in Austin thought she and Spencer would get along. Thomas said she then looked up his profile on Instagram and found an intriguing highlight he had put up of him reviewing pizza.

“I'm a huge fan of pizza myself—I was like, ‘This looks like really good quality content'," she said.

She decided to follow him on Instagram after that and revealed that McManes had DM'd her almost immediately. McManes also confirms this, and even asked her what prompted her to do so. According to an anniversary post made earlier, McManes and Thomas have been dating since October 2022. McManes was also in attendance at the Paris Olympics in 2024 when Thomas won gold in the 200m event.

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Serena Williams' husband, Suni Lee, among others share reactions to Gabby Thomas and Spencer McManes' engagement

Gabby Thomas and Spencer McManes at the F1 Grand Prix (Source: Getty)

Gabby Thomas and Spencer McManes took to Instagram to share their engagement announcement. The pair were met with overwhemingly positive reactions, including from notable athletes such as Suni Lee and Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian.

In a joint post with Vogue Weddings on Instagram, the pair can be seen posing together in an adorable picture. In another picture, Thomas is seen flaunting her new engagement ring.

Olympic champion and artistic gymnast Suni Lee commented on the post, expressing her excitement as she wrote:

"congrats 🥹🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻,"

Still taken from Thomas' Instagram (Source: @gabbythomas/Instagram)

Serena Williams' husband, Alexis Ohanian, also commented on the post, writing:

“CONGRATS GABBY & SPENCER!”

Still taken from Thomas' Instagram (Source: @gabbythomas/Instagram)

Other notable athletes to share their reactions were Junelle Bromfield, Masai Russell, Chari Hawkins among others. Thomas also recently announced that she would be competing in the Texas Relays in Austin on March 29th.