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Gabby Thomas was left gasping for air after running a mile during a training session at the Buford-Bailey Track Club. The American sprinter is the reigning 200m champion and is looking to defend her title at the 2025 World Championships.
Thomas is predominantly a short-distance sprinter and usually runs the 100m and 200m races along with the 4x400m relay. Despite being the fourth fastest 200m runner in history, the 27-year-old struggled to run a mile.
After recently competing in an intra-squad mile challenge at the Buford-Bailey Track Club, Thomas was spotted gasping for air as she crossed the finish line.
She finished third in five minutes 43 seconds, while Bianca Stubler and Jessica Wright finished 1-2 in five minutes 25 seconds and five minutes 30 seconds respectively.
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During an appearance on the Today show in August, Thomas revealed that she only runs a mile once a year as part of ' a gut check' by her coach and Olympic medalist Tonja Buford-Bailey.
"The furthest I will run is one mile. We do a mile in the fall. It's a gut check. So we do it to tap into your mental side—can you finish a mile? And I know it's funny because for you guys, you're like, 'Oh, a mile.' No, it's really difficult for us," Gabby Thomas said
Thomas started her preparations for the 2025 track and field season last month in November as she looks to defend her 200m title at the Tokyo World Championships.
"It reinforced the value of discipline" - Gabby Thomas shares learnings from triple gold medal triumph at the 2024 Paris
Gabby Thomas started her professional career in 2018 and while she was fast right from the start, he speed didn't materialize into gold medals until the 2024 Paris Olympics. Thomas won her first individual 200m titles at the Games, before winning two more gold medals in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays.
When asked what she learned from her resilient journey, the five-time Olympic medalist pointed out the importance of discipline and consistency.
"It reinforced the value of discipline and consistency. Getting to that level requires an immense amount of focus, dedication, and effort day in and day out — and it reminded me that success doesn’t happen overnight. It’s all the work that happens when no one’s watching that counts," she told Women's Wear Daily in an interview.
The 27-year-old has signed with Michael Johnson's Grand Slam Track for the 2025 season and is expected to race over short sprints category of 100m-200m.
