Thomas overcomes doubts to secure first global title in Paris
PARIS: Olympic 200 metres champion Gabby Thomas revealed on Tuesday that she considered walking away from athletics multiple times before her dominant victory in Paris. The 27-year-old American, who earned bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Games and silver at last year’s world championships, finally clinched her first global title by defeating 100 metres champion Julien Alfred and fellow American Brittany Brown to win gold.
“Running track in college, there were many times where I thought I would quit,” Thomas told reporters. “When I went pro, the growing pains of joining a professional training group were real; there are a lot of egos, and I didn’t think I was cut out for it.”
At one point, Thomas even informed her agents that she was ready to quit professional running. “I wrote an email saying ‘I’m done running professionally, I’m going to pursue other endeavours with my life.'”
Thomas initially took up running reluctantly at the encouragement of her mother, Jennifer Randall, who noticed her speed on the soccer field. She ran for Harvard while earning a degree in neurobiology and later completed a Master’s in public health from the University of Texas.(Reuters)
