Three years after taking bronze in the 200 meters at the Tokyo Olympics, Gabby Thomas is an Olympic gold medalist. On Tuesday night, the American won the 200 meters at the Paris Olympics in 21.83 seconds.
Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia, who won the women’s 100 meters three days ago, took silver in 22.08 seconds, while American Brittany Brown rounded out the podium in bronze (22.20 seconds).
Thomas got off to a strong start, and came off the turn with a significant lead; heading down the home stretch, Alfred simply could not gain ground. From there, it was a race for bronze, with first-time Olympian Brown edging out Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita.
The third American athlete, NCAA 100- and 200-meter champion McKenzie Long, finished seventh in 22.42 seconds.
Thomas, 27, the silver medalist in the 200 at last year’s World Championships, put together a nearly-perfect season in the 200 meters. In May, she got off to a slow start at the Los Angeles Grand Prix, placing an uncharacteristic sixth. But Thomas assured her fans on social media that it was nothing to worry about, saying she was in the middle of a tough training block.
It would be the only 200 she would lose throughout the season.
At the Olympic Trials in June, Thomas held off the field in the final 50 meters, winning in 21.81. Three weeks later, she won the London Diamond League in a meet record of 21.82, taking down Alfred and Asher-Smith.
While Thomas owned the fastest 200 time in the world coming into the meet, which she set at the Trials, she wasn’t considered the clear-cut favorite. Instead, Shericka Jackson—last year’s world champion from Jamaica—was expected to defend her global title. But Jackson, ultimately, would not run a step at the Olympics.
On July 31, Jackson announced she would skip the 100 meters to focus only on the 200, noting that she injured her hamstring in a tuneup race. But five days later, just before the 200 preliminaries were set to start, she withdrew from the 200 as well.
In recent years, Thomas has become one of the most popular track and field athletes in the world, in part, to her pursuits away from running. Thomas, who has a master’s degree in public health and epidemiology, volunteers at a hypertension intervention program at a health clinic in Austin, Texas, and she’s expressed interest in working in healthcare administration after she retires from track.
She also has a vested interest in growing women’s sports. She’s spearheading, along with Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian, the Athlos track meet—a women’s only competition in September that is offering sizable prize money.
Theo Kahler is the news editor at Runner’s World. He’s a former all-conference collegiate runner at Winthrop University, and he received his master’s degree in liberal arts studies from Wake Forest University, where he was a member of one of the top distance-running teams in the NCAA. Kahler has reported on the ground at major events such as the Paris Olympics, U.S. Olympic Trials, New York City Marathon, and Boston Marathon. He’s run 14:20 in the 5K, 1:05:36 in the half marathon, and enjoys spotting tracks from the sky on airplanes. (Look for colorful ovals around football fields.)
Cindy is a freelance health and fitness writer, author, and podcaster who’s contributed regularly to Runner’s World since 2013. She’s the coauthor of both Breakthrough Women’s Running: Dream Big and Train Smart and Rebound: Train Your Mind to Bounce Back Stronger from Sports Injuries, a book about the psychology of sports injury from Bloomsbury Sport. Cindy specializes in covering injury prevention and recovery, everyday athletes accomplishing extraordinary things, and the active community in her beloved Chicago, where winter forges deep bonds between those brave enough to train through it.
