Gabby Thomas gets real about the dark side of making money in track and field

Gabby Thomas opened up about the dark side of track and field in her latest podcast appearance. The American athlete revealed that it is very important for an athlete to win races to make a sustainable living in the sport, and it is not like other leagues where players receive a salary.

Thomas claimed that it is very necessary for track athletes to get a sponsorship, so they can fund their training to compete in the Olympics. The Olympic gold medalist revealed that she got her first major sponsorship after she won the NCAA Championships, which had a significant impact on supporting her dreams of competing in the Olympics.

Thomas' victory at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in 2021 for the Tokyo Olympics was a turning point in her career as it opened doors to a lot of sponsorships as well as growth opportunities. The 28-year-old expressed her thoughts in her appearance in the latest episode of 'Networth and Chill' podcast uploaded on YouTube on March 13, revealing how winning is very necessary to sustain oneself as an athlete.

“You can become kind of this tier where you're a professional athlete and you get sponsorships and you have some money to support, you know, the career that you're trying to have. Right. And that was me when I came out of college," she said. (17:10 onwards)

"I had the support of sponsors, and that means I can go run and I can go live my dream of trying to become an Olympian or becoming one. But I had to win. And the main point of all of this is you have to win. Track and field is a sport where you kind of, you eat what you kill. So if you're not winning races, you're not making money. So I won,” Thomas added.

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Gabby Thomas on signing a sponsorship deal with New Balance

Gabby Thomas speaks at The Sportico House at SXSW - Day 2 - Source: Getty

Gabby Thomas spoke about signing a sponsorship deal with New Balance in an appearance on the 'Why Not Me? with Mike Jackson' podcast in October last year. The American athlete revealed how the deal was life changing for her.

Moreover, Thomas shed light on how even though the signing amount was not as huge as other sports and leagues like the NBA, it was a very big deal for her.

“For me, it felt like life-changing money. In retrospect, I mean compared to other sports and other leagues, it's not, but in track and field, a lot of us are just people who haven't seen money before, if I'm being frank," she said.

Gabby Thomas revealed how she used the money from the sponsorship deal to fund her education as well as fuel her Olympic dreams.