Gabby Thomas has spent the last three years working toward a gold medal — and her hard work is finally paying off.
Thomas, 27, won the women’s 200m final at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Tuesday, August 6, crossing the finish line in 21.83 seconds — 0.25 seconds faster than runner-up Julien Afred of St Lucia, who won the country’s first gold in the 100 meters on Monday. American Brittney Brown won bronze behind them in 22.20 seconds.
Thomas’ victory was never in doubt. Despite the lightning race, she pulled clear ahead with 100 meters to go, with no chance of anyone catching her.
“This is at least six years in the making,” Thomas told reporters at the Stade de France on Tuesday, including to PEOPLE. “Everything was for this moment. My coach told me everything we’ve done up until this moment — the Tokyo Olympics, the World Cup, even my injured year in 2022 — was for this, so I was ready and mature and I was ready.”
Achieving the gold goal, Thomas said, is “indescribable.”
“Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that I would become an Olympic gold medalist, and I am and I still think about it,” she said.
The race marked the first Olympic gold for Thomas, who won both a silver and bronze medal at the 2021 Tokyo Games. It is the fifth gold medal for the USA track and field team at these Games; Noah Lyles won gold in the men’s 100m, while Ryan Crouser took first in the men’s shot put. Valarie Allman won the women’s discus and Cole Hocker just finished first in an Olympic record time in the men’s 1500m.
Olympian Gabby Thomas is doing ‘everything she can’ to win a gold medal in Paris — including sleeping a lot
Thomas, who also dominated the semi-finals of the event with a time of 21.86 seconds, has had her eye on the prize for the last few years, especially after she tore her hamstring ahead of the 2022 World Championships and had to withdraw.
Gabby Thomas competes in the women’s 200m semifinal on August 5 at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu via Getty Images
“Being forced to sit out like that was very difficult, but it also made me really appreciate how important track is to me and how much I want to do this,” she told PEOPLE in July. “I’m so excited to go to Paris and represent Team USA, I feel strong and at my best.”
The Harvard graduate said at the time that bringing home a gold medal would “mean everything” to her and that she was excited to be supported in Paris by a team of fans, including her mom, dad and boyfriend.
Cole Hocker breaks Olympic record in men’s 1500m final for gold as Yared Nuguse wins bronze
“In 2021, I was happy to be there and it was a bit unexpected,” she said. “Now I have bigger goals for myself and I’m doing everything I can to bring home the gold. I really feel like this is a special year.”
To find out more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, come to people.com and check out the live coverage before, during and after the games. And sign up for Going for Gold, our Olympic newsletter, to deliver the biggest stories from the Games straight to your inbox. Watch the Paris Olympics and Paralympics starting July 26 on NBC and Peacock.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education