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Gabrielle (Gabby) Lisa Thomas, born December 7th, 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia is an American track and field athlete in the 100 and 200 meter sprints.
She won the bronze medal in the 200 meter and a silver as part of the women's 4 × 100 meter relay at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
On August 25th, 2023, she claimed the silver medal in the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest with a time of 21.81 seconds.
On the penultimate day of the 2023 World Championships she would also go on to win gold as part of Team USA in the women's 4x100meter relay final with a championship record of 41.03 seconds.
Born to African American mother Jennifer Randall and Jamaican father Desmond Thomas. She has a twin brother named Andrew.
In 2007, Jennifer 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, Gabby initially played softball and soccer, then joined the track and field team at the Williston Northampton School.
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.
A graduate of Harvard University, she studied neurobiology and global health as an undergraduate. Thomas later pursued a Master's Degree in Epidemiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston at their Austin regional campus.
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.
She signed a contract with New Balance and turned pro in October 2018, forgoing her last year of collegiate eligibility.
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, sanctioned with a two-year period of ineligibility.
She submitted new evidence in June to invalidate one failure, and was finally cleared in July.
Thomas experienced a health scare in 2021 when an MRI revealed a tumor on her liver, but it turned out to be benign. She represented the United States in the 200 meter race at the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Her time of 21.61 seconds at the United States Olympic trials on June 26th, 2021, was the second-fastest ever at the time, surpassed only by world record holder Florence Griffith-Joyner.
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." On August 3rd, 2021 in the Olympic final, Thomas won a bronze medal, running with a time of 21.87 seconds behind Elaine Thompson-Herah (gold) and Christine Mboma (silver).
Three days later, the U.S. team having qualified for the finals of the 4 x 100 meter 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.
In March of 2022, 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 meter female sprinter.
She achieved the quickest wind-assisted mark of all time at 21.69 seconds (+3.1 m/s). She had run a winning 10.92 second in the 100 meters just 45 minutes earlier.
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 meters final.
On April 29th, 2023 at the Texas Invitational in Austin, Thomas turned in a massive personal record in the 400 meters with a time of 49.68 seconds - her previous PR was 51.15 s from May 2021.
On July 9th, 2023, Thomas became the US national champion for the women's 200meter sprint.
On August 25th, 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 behind defending women's 200meter world champion Shericka Jackson (21:41 CR)
She would also go on to win gold as part of Team USA in the women's 4x100meter relay final with a championship record of 41.03 seconds. Her teammates in this event were Tamari Davis, Twanisha Terry, and Sha'Carri Richardson.
Gabby, who proudly embraces her Jamaican roots. Jamaica dominated track and field at the last three Olympic Games with Usain Bolt, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson, Omar McLeod. Bolt won 100meter and 200meter gold medals in Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016 while Thompson won the Rio 2016 sprint double.
Fraser-Pryce won the 100meter in Beijing 2008 and London 2012 while McLeod's 110meter hurdles victory came in Rio 2016.
In Tokyo 2020, Jamaica was looking to Asafa Powell, along with new kids on the block Briana Williams, Kevona Davis, Ashanti Moore, Akeem Bloomfield, Kiara Grant, Yohan Blake, Alana Reid, Brianna Lyston, Ackeem Blake, Oblique Seville, Hansle Parchment, Danielle Williams, Janeek Brown and others.
Gabby Thomas is a big believer in the power of a good night’s sleep. Thomas wrote a paper on the subject of rest as part of her completed master’s degree from the University of Texas.
It was a look at racial disparities in sleep disorders and evaluates sleep epidemiology among Black Americans.
"The biggest takeaway for me is that sleep is a public health crisis and as a society, we don't recognize that," said Thomas, who earned her undergraduate degree in neurobiology and global health from Harvard.
"Lifestyle stressors have a significant impact on sleep and is actually linked to many chronic health problems later in life."
"While I do prioritize my own sleep so that I can be one of the best runners in the world, it is also because I am very aware of the consequences of not getting good sleep now and later in life.”
Thomas said sleep holds as much importance to her as a track workout - Or a gym workout, a physio session, or proper nutrition.
"It is most definitely the most important part of my training, and I can't stress that enough," she said.
Sha'Carri Richardson came up just short of a second U.S. title on Sunday the 9th of July at the 2023 U.S. Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, finishing second behind Tokyo 2020 200m bronze medallist Gabby Thomas in the women's 200meter final.
Thomas sprinted to a 21.60 in the final, a personal best, meeting record and the fastest time of 2023. Her world lead comes just hours after reigning 200meter World champion Shericka Jackson clocked a 21.71 that at the time was the fastest of the season.
Richardson's 21.94 personal best was good for second, while Kayla White's 22.01, another personal best, was third.
"It felt really good to reclaim my title," said Thomas to a U.S. broadcaster on NBC. "Coming here last year and being injured was really heart-breaking for me, I was really ready this year. I was hungry, I wanted it more than I think anyone."
Thomas returned to Hayward Field for the first time since an injury hampered her efforts at last year's nationals. Healthy in 2023, she was the winner of the first heat (22.28) and third fastest overall on Saturday the 8th of July.
"Last time I was here, I was injured and last time I was in this mixed zone talking to you, I was crying because of my injury, but I've come a long way since then," said Thomas afterward. "I finished that season pretty strong, even just coming back from that injury that year was really healthy for me."
"This year, we've learned a lot," she continued. "I've been a little bit more conservative in my training and my race schedule, just giving me that opportunity to come out here and have the chance to win."
"It's amazing how two months ago I was in this hotel in Eugene, OR losing sleep over whether or not I'd become an Olympian…and now I'm back with two medals."
"Sad to leave Tokyo but so excited to return to Texas with two medals. Thank you Tokyo for the amazing hospitality and to
@usatfstaff for the support! I am incredibly grateful for this experience - the memories from my first Olympic Games will last a lifetime."
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Gabrielle (Gabby) Lisa Thomas, born December 7th, 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia is an American track and field athlete in the 100 and 200 meter sprints.
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.
Her time of 21.61 seconds at the United States Olympic trials on June 26th, 2021, was the second-fastest ever at the time, surpassed only by world record holder Florence Griffith-Joyner.
On April 29th, 2023 at the Texas Invitational in Austin, Thomas turned in a massive personal record in the 400 meters with a time of 49.68 seconds - her previous PR was 51.15 s from May 2021.
Gabby Thomas is a big believer in the power of a good night’s sleep. Thomas wrote a paper on the subject of rest as part of her completed master’s degree from the University of Texas.
Sha'Carri Richardson came up just short of a second U.S. title on Sunday the 9th of July at the 2023 U.S. Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon, finishing second behind Tokyo 2020 200m bronze medallist Gabby Thomas in the women's 200meter final.
"This year, we've learned a lot," she continued. "I've been a little bit more conservative in my training and my race schedule, just giving me that opportunity to come out here and have the chance to win."
