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Gabrielle Thomas

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This article is about the American track and field athlete. For the Emmerdale character, see Gabby Thomas (Emmerdale).
Gabby Thomas
Thomas at the 2018 NCAA Division I Championships in Eugene
Personal information
Born (1996-12-07) December 7, 1996 (age 27)[1]
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.[1]
Home townNorthampton, Massachusetts, U.S.
BildungHarvard University
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Height5 ft 9 in (175 cm)[1]
Sport
LandVereinigte Staaten
SportTrack and field
EventSprint
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals
  • 2020 Tokyo
  • 200 m,  Bronze
  • 4 × 100 m,  Silver
Personal bests
  • 100 m: 11.00 (Eugene 2021)
  • 200 m: 21.60 (Eugene 2023)
  • 400 m: 49.68 (Austin 2023)
  • Long jump: 6.27 m (20 ft 6+3⁄4 in) (Palo Alto 2017)
  • Indoors
  • 60 m: 7.21i (Fayetteville 2021)
  • 200 m: 22.38i (College Station 2018)
  • 300 m: 35.73i (New York 2021)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing the  Vereinigte Staaten
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo 4×100 m relay
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Tokyo 200 m
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2023 Budapest 200 m

Gabrielle Lisa Thomas (born December 7, 1996)[2] is an American track and field athlete in 100 and 200 meter sprint. She won the bronze medal in the 200 m and a silver as part of the women's 4 × 100 m relay at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Early life and background

Thomas was born December 7, 1996, in Atlanta, Georgia to African American mother Jennifer Randall and Jamaican father Desmond Thomas.[3] She has a twin brother named Andrew.[4][5] In 2007, Randall moved the family to Massachusetts to teach at the University of Massachusetts after completing her PhD at Emory University. While the family settled in Florence, Thomas initially played softball and soccer, then joined the track and field team at the Williston Northampton School.[6] She was inspired to run by Allyson Felix, stating that her first memory of a track race was watching Felix while at her grandmother's house. In four years at her high school, Thomas set multiple school records and was MVP every year.[7][8]

A graduate of Harvard University, she studied neurobiology and global health as an undergraduate.[9] Thomas was later pursuing a master's degree in epidemiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston at their Austin regional campus.[9][10]

Career

While at Harvard, Thomas won 22 conference titles across her three years of athletics in six different events, setting the school and Ivy League records in the 100 meters, 200 meters and the indoor 60 meters.[8] She signed a contract with New Balance and turned pro in October 2018, forgoing her last year of collegiate eligibility.[11]

After Harvard, she moved to Austin, Texas to be coached by Tonja Buford-Bailey. In May 2020, Thomas was provisionally suspended for three whereabouts failures,[12] sanctioned with a two-year period of ineligibility. She submitted new evidence in June to invalidate one failure, and was finally cleared in July.[13][14]

2021

Thomas experienced a health scare in 2021 when an MRI revealed a tumor on her liver, but it turned out to be benign.[15] She represented the United States in the 200 meter race at the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[16] Her time of 21.61 seconds at the United States Olympic trials on June 26, 2021, was the second-fastest ever at the time, surpassed only by world record holder Florence Griffith-Joyner.[17] The time even surprised Thomas herself; after the race, she said "It definitely changed how I view myself as a runner. I am still in shock... my dream was to make the Olympic team... Now that I've accomplished [that], I'm going to set higher goals."[18] On August 3, 2021 in the Olympic final, Thomas won a bronze medal, running with a time of 21.87 s, behind Elaine Thompson-Herah (gold) and Christine Mboma (silver).[19][20] Three days later, the U.S. team having qualified for the finals of the 4 x 100 m relay, Thomas ran anchor, and the team came in second place behind the Jamaican team, securing her the silver medal along with teammates Javianne Oliver, Teahna Daniels, and Jenna Prandini.[21][22][20]

2022

In March, Thomas came up with a good start to her outdoor season at the Texas Relays in Austin, with the fastest ever season opener by any 200 m female sprinter. She achieved the quickest wind-assisted mark of all time at 21.69 seconds (+3.1 m/s). She ran winning 10.92 s in the 100 m just 45 minutes earlier.[23] Thomas missed the qualifying for the home World Championships in Eugene, Oregon in July as she tore her hamstring just weeks before the USATF Championships held in June and only finished eighth in the 200 m final.[24]

2023–present

On April 29 at the Texas Invitational in Austin, Thomas turned in a massive personal record in the 400 m with a time of 49.68 s (her previous PR was 51.15 s from May 2021).[2][25] On July 9, 2023, Thomas became the US national champion for the women's 200m sprint.[26] On August 25, 2023, she claimed the silver medal in the 2023 World Athletics Championships in 21.81 seconds. She finished ahead of USA teammate Sha'Carri Richardson (21.92), and the Jamaican defending women's 200m world champion Shericka Jackson (21:41 CR)[27]

Achievements

International competitions

Representing the  Vereinigte Staaten
Year Competition Venue Position Event Zeit Notes
2019 IAAF World Relays Yokohama, Japan - 4 × 200 m relay DQ [28]
2021 Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 3rd 200 m 21.87 +0.8 m/s
2nd 4 × 100 m relay 41.45 SB
2023 World Championships Budapest, Hungary 2nd 200 m 21.81

National championships

Year Competition Venue Position Event Zeit Notes
Representing New Balance
2019 USATF Indoor Championships Staten Island, New York 2nd 300 m 35.98 [29]
USATF Championships Des Moines, Iowa 8th 200 m DNF -1.2 m/s[30]
2021 U.S. Olympic Trials Eugene, Oregon 4th 100 m 11.15 -1.0 m/s
1st 200 m 21.61 +1.3 m/s PB
2022 USATF Championships Eugene, Oregon 8th 200 m 22.47 -0.3 m/s
2023 USATF Championships Eugene, Oregon 1st 200 m 21.60 -0.4 m/s PB[31]

Circuit wins

References

  1. ^ a b c "Gabrielle Thomas". teamusa.org. USOC. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Gabrielle THOMAS – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  3. ^ "Everybody knows I am Jamaican," says Gabby Thomas TrackAlerts TV
  4. ^ Grabowski, Kyle (2019-01-25). "Fast lane: Gabby Thomas' journey on the track continues with pro debut at New Balance Indoor Grand Prix". Daily Hampshire Gazette. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  5. ^ Thomas, Gabrielle (2021-02-21). "Instagram post". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-25. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  6. ^ Adam, Kilgore (2021-08-01). "Washington Post profile". The Washington Post.
  7. ^ Dillon, Kevin (2015-05-15). "Williston Northampton's Gabby Thomas to finish decorated track career at NEPSAC Championships Saturday". masslive. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
  8. ^ a b Azzi, Alex (2021-06-27). "Gabby Thomas's atypical - but fast! - journey to the Tokyo Olympics". NBC Sports: On Her Turf. Archived from the original on 2021-06-27. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  9. ^ a b Azzi, Alex (2021-06-09). "Olympic hopeful Gabby Thomas: the world's fastest epidemiologist?". NBC Sports: On Her Turf. Archived from the original on 2021-06-27. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  10. ^ Bolies, Corbin (2021-06-27). "Gabby Thomas Runs Second Fastest 200-Meter Race Ever". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 2021-06-27. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  11. ^ Walsh, Colleen (2019-05-30). "Harvard grad sprints to the finish, breaking NCAA record along the way". The Harvard Gazette. Archived from the original on 2021-04-23. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  12. ^ "Whereabouts Failures". Athletics Integrity Unit. Retrieved 2021-07-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ Gault, Jonathan (2020-05-01). "Ex-Harvard Sprinter - Yes Harvard - Suspended For Anti-Doping Violation". LetsRun.com. Retrieved 2021-07-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ Pingue, Frank (2020-07-04). Ferris, Ken (ed.). "Athletics: Sprinter Thomas cleared by AIU in whereabouts failure case". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  15. ^ Dragon, Tyler. "Gabby Thomas wins women's 200 meters at U.S. Olympic trials in world-best time, Allyson Felix fails to qualify". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2021-06-27. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  16. ^ Reid, Scott (2021-06-25). "Gabby Thomas runs world-best 200 at Olympic Trials". Orange County Register. Archived from the original on 2021-06-25. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  17. ^ "200 meters - women". World Athletics. 2021-06-26. Archived from the original on 2021-06-27. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  18. ^ Kilgore, Adam (2021-06-07). "Gabby Thomas, Rai Benjamin and Grant Holloway have a brush with history at U.S. track trials". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2021-06-27. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  19. ^ "Harvard grad Gabby Thomas wins bronze in women's 200-meter final in Tokyo". CBS News. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  20. ^ a b Alford, Jovan C. (2021-08-06). "Jamaica wins women's 4x100-meter relay in dominating fashion". DraftKings Nation. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  21. ^ "Gabby Thomas '19 Wins Silver Medal With U.S. 4x100m Relay Team at 2020 Tokyo Olympics". Harvard University. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  22. ^ "Women's 4x100m relay Final - Results | Tokyo 2020 Olympics". Eurosport. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
  23. ^ Mulkeen, Jon (2022-03-26). "Thomas, Harrison and Barnes fly to speedy wind-assisted times at Texas Relays". World Athletics. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  24. ^ "Sam Kendricks won't defend world pole vault title; U.S. roster named". NBC Sports. July 6, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  25. ^ Smith, Gary (April 29, 2023). "Gabby Thomas runs massive 49.68 PB to win 400m at Texas Invitational". World-Track.org. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  26. ^ https://olympics.com/en/news/usa-track-and-field-championships-2023-sha-carri-richardson-takes-second-in-200m
  27. ^ https://worldathletics.org/en/competitions/world-athletics-championships/budapest23/results/women/200-metres/final/result
  28. ^ 2019 IAAF World Relays – Women's 4 × 200 metres relay Final Results IAAF
  29. ^ 2019 Toyota USATF Indoor Championships February 22nd - February 24th Staten Island, New York, United States Women 300 M USATF.tv via ResultsCentral
  30. ^ 2019 Toyota USATF Championships - 7/25/2019 to 7/28/2019 Drake Stadium Results Women 200 M Nike Flash Results
  31. ^ https://olympics.com/en/news/usa-track-and-field-championships-2023-sha-carri-richardson-takes-second-in-200m
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