U.S. Track and Field star Gabby Thomas has officially fulfilled her dream of winning gold for Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
During Tuesday’s (Aug. 6) 200-meter race, Thomas snagged first place thanks to a time of 21.83. Trailing the 27-year-old track star was St. Lucia’s Julien Alfred and fellow U.S. Track and Field star Brittany Brown for third place.
Thomas’ quest for gold has been in the making for quite some time. During the Tokyo Games, she took home the bronze medal behind Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah and
Namibia’s Christine Mboma during the same event. Additionally, she snagged silver in the 4×100-meter relay during the event, but now she has finally struck gold.“You prepare for this moment and train so hard for this moment, but when it actually comes, it’s indescribable,” said Thomas, a representative for Team USA. “I never would have imagined in my wildest dreams that I would become an Olympic gold medalist, and I am one. I’m still wrapping my head around that.”
Despite suffering a hamstring injury in 2022, Thomas put in an intense year of training and racing to align herself with the gold during the 2024 Paris Olympics, and she delivered!
The feat now joins Thomas’s silver medal during the 2023 World Championships in Budapest and her win during the 2024 New York City Grand Prix in 22.42. In June, she scored the fastest time of any sprinter of 2024 with a 21.78 time during the U.S. Olympic Trials. She is also the winner of the 2024 London Diamond League with a score of 21.82 and won gold during the World Championships 4×100-meter relay.
Before the Olympics, during an interview with NBC News, Thomas revealed that one of her No.1 goals was to inspire runners to come after her.
“Track and field is really special and unique in that you get out exactly what you put into it,” said Thomas at the time. “When people watch me race, I want them to know that they can believe in themselves.”
As of Aug. 6, with only 11 days of competition, Team USA leads
the 2024 Paris Olympics with 86 medals, 24 gold, 31 silver, and 31 bronze, with Team China trailing with 58 medals.RELATED CONTENT: Black Girl Magic On The Olympic Stage Highlights Black Iconography At Its Best