"You want to rip each other's heads off" – Gabby Thomas reflects on intense transition from individual to relay races

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Gabby Thomas recently shared her thoughts on the contradictory dynamics of participating in individual sprint and relay events. The prominent sprinter specializes in the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints.

Thomas won two medals in the Tokyo Olympics in the 4×100-meter relay and the 200-meter category. The Harvard graduate recently appeared in “A Touch More with Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe” podcast with the iconic middle-distance runner, Nikki Hiltz. The sprinter expressed the different mindsets an athlete has to adapt according to various events. She mentioned:

“Especially when you're a sprinter and we have the relays when it comes to the Olympics too and that is the weirdest transition. We are actual competitors and especially in the 4×100 m relay meters, that's the shortest sprinting event,” Thomas shared [37:23 onwards]

She continued,

“You want to rip each other's heads off like literally every other second of the sport. Like we're training against each other, we're competing against each other, and it's a really intense competition where you have to be just in a different head space, in a different mindset, like these are not your friends.”

Thomas continued and expressed that for the relay events, an athlete has to do “relay practice together,” which involves trusting each other and understanding how to become a part of the team. Further highlighting the “switch” that relay athletes go through in their careers. Notably, Thomas has also confirmed her participation in the 2025 Grand Slam League and Athlos Meet.

Gabby Thomas shares reflection of her journey and professional growth since the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Gabby Thomas at The Olympic Games-Paris 2024 - Source: Getty

Gabby Thomas has become a prominent name in the world of track and field. Along with her Olympic triumphs, she has two World Championship medals and two World Relays gold medals. She clocked the 200-meter event in Tokyo in 21.87 seconds and in Paris, she secured the top spot by finishing the race in 21.83 seconds.

Behind her gold medal win were years of hard work, discipline, and resilience. During an interview with the Olympics, the track star expressed how she has “grown so much as an athlete” since the last Olympics. She further added:

“This grand play of working my way up to be a gold medallist, and then, just going for it and taking that opportunity and doing it. It’s a culmination of just years, months, weeks, days and minutes of making the right choice over and over again, so I can have the opportunity for gold.”

Thomas shared that it is a “part of the process” leading to her winning the gold medal in Paris. During her collegiate period at Harvard University, Thomas secured twenty-two conference titles. Along with this, she also clinched numerous Ivy League titles. In 2018, she won the 200-meter NCAA title.