Gabrielle Thomas
![]() Thomas at the NCAA Championships in 2018 | |||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||||
Born | [1] Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.[1] | December 7, 1996||||||||||||||||
Home town | Florence, Massachusetts, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
Education | Harvard University University of Texas at Austin Williston Northampton School | ||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||
Country | United States | ||||||||||||||||
Sport | Track and field | ||||||||||||||||
Event(s) | Sprint | ||||||||||||||||
Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||
Olympic finals |
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Personal best(s) |
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Medal record
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Gabrielle Thomas (born December 7, 1996)[3] is an American track-and-field athlete. She is the third-fastest woman of all time in the 200 metres with her result of 21.61 seconds, which was set at the 2020 US Olympic trials. She won an individual bronze medal and a team silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Career[]
Thomas was born December 7, 1996, in Atlanta, Georgia to American mother Jennifer Randall and Jamaican father Desmond Thomas. She has a twin brother named Andrew.[4] Thomas is African-American on her mother's side and Jamaican on her father's side.[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, Massachusetts, Thomas initially played softball and soccer, then joined the track and field team at the Williston Northampton School.[6] Thomas 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 high school, Thomas ran all 4 years for Williston Northampton School, where she 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] 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.[10]
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,[11] sanctioned with a two-year period of ineligibility. She submitted new evidence in June to invalidate one failure, and was finally cleared in July.[12][13]
Thomas experienced a health scare in 2021 when an MRI revealed a tumor on her liver, but it turned out to be benign.[14] She is pursuing a master's degree at the University of Texas at Austin in epidemiology.[9][15]
Thomas represented the United States in the 200 meter race at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[16] Her time of 21.61 seconds in the event at the United States Olympic trials on June 26, 2021, was the third-fastest ever, surpassed only by Elaine Thompson-Herah & world record holder Florence Griffith-Joyner.[3] 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."[17]
On August 3, 2021, at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Thomas won a bronze medal, running in the 200 m finals with a time of 21.87, behind Elaine Thompson Herah (gold) and Christine Mboma (silver).[18][19] Three days later, on August 6, 2021, the U.S. team having qualified for the finals of the 4 x 100 metres relay, Thomas ran anchor, and the team came in 2nd place behind the Jamaican team, securing her the silver medal along with teammates Javianne Oliver, Teahna Daniels, and Jenna Prandini.[20][21][19]
Achievements[]
Circuit wins[]
- Diamond League meetings
- 2018 (1) (200 m): Lausanne Athletissima
- 2019 (1) (200 m): Lausanne Athletissima
National Competitions[]
Year | Competition | Venue | Event | Position | Time | Wind (m/s) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | Olympic Trials | Eugene, Oregon | 100 m | 4th | 11.15 | -1.0 | |
200 m | 1st | 21.61 | +1.3 | PB | |||
2019 | 2019 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships | Des Moines, Iowa | 200 m | 8th[22] | DNF | -1.2 | |
2019 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships | Staten Island, New York | 300 m | 2nd[23] | 35.98 |
Team USA[]
Year | Competition | Venue | Event | Position | Time | Wind (m/s) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 2nd | 4 × 100 m relay | 41.45 | SB | |
3rd | 200 m | 21.87 | +0.8 | ||||
2019 | IAAF World Relays | Yokohama, Japan | DNF | 4 × 200 m relay | DNF | [24] |
References[]
- ^ a b c "Gabrielle Thomas". teamusa.org. USOC. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
- ^ a b "Gabrielle Thomas Profile". World Athletics. 2021-06-26. Archived from the original on 2021-06-14. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
- ^ a b "200 meters - women". World Athletics. 2021-06-26. Archived from the original on 2021-06-27. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
- ^ 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.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Thomas, Gabrielle (2021-02-21). "Instagram post". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-25. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
- ^ Adam, Kilgore (2021-08-01). "Washington Post profile".
- ^ Dillon, Kevin (2015-05-15). "Williston Northampton's Gabby Thomas to finish decorated track career at NEPSAC Championships Saturday". masslive. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Whereabouts Failures". Athletics Integrity Unit. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ 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) - ^ Pingue, Frank (2020-07-04). Ferris, Ken (ed.). "Athletics: Sprinter Thomas cleared by AIU in whereabouts failure case". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Harvard grad Gabby Thomas wins bronze in women's 200-meter final in Tokyo". CBS News. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
- ^ a b Alford, Jovan C. (2021-08-06). "Jamaica wins women's 4x100-meter relay in dominating fashion". DraftKings Nation. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
- ^ "Gabby Thomas '19 Wins Silver Medal With U.S. 4x100m Relay Team at 2020 Tokyo Olympics". Harvard University. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
- ^ "Athletics - Women's 4x100m relay Final - Results - United States | Tokyo 2020 Olympics". www.eurosport.com. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
- ^ 2019 Toyota USATF Championships - 7/25/2019 to 7/28/2019 Drake Stadium Results Women 200 M Nike Flash Results
- ^ 2019 Toyota USATF Indoor Championships February 22nd - February 24th Staten Island, New York, United States Women 300 M USATF.tv via ResultsCentral
- ^ 2019 IAAF World Relays – Women's 4 × 200 metres relay Final Results IAAF
External links[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gabrielle Thomas. |
- Gabrielle Thomas at World Athletics
- Gabrielle Thomas at Diamond League
- Gabrielle Thomas at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee
- Gabrielle Thomas at Olympics.com
- Gabrielle Thomas at OlympicChannel.com (archived)
- Gabrielle Thomas at Olympedia
- Gabrielle Thomas on Instagram
- Living people
- American female sprinters
- African-American female track and field athletes
- Harvard University alumni
- University of Texas at Austin alumni
- 1996 births
- USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners
- United States collegiate record holders in athletics (track and field)
- Track and field athletes from Massachusetts
- People from Northampton, Massachusetts
- American sportspeople of Jamaican descent
- People from Atlanta
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field
- Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field
- Harvard Crimson women's track and field athletes
- Olympic female sprinters
- 21st-century African-American sportspeople
- 21st-century African-American women