American Gabby Thomas, the Harvard graduate who also holds a master’s degree in public health, won the 200-m sprint Tuesday night at the Stade de France, the first U.S. track athlete to win gold in this event since Allyson Felix in 2012. Thomas won with a time of 21.83 seconds; Julien Alfred of St. Lucia finished second, with a time of 22.08, to take silver while Brittany Brown of the U.S. earned bronze, with a time of 2.20.
The U.S. continues to dominate the track-and field-competition. Thomas’ victory gives the Americans five golds in the sport: no other country has more than two golds. Cole Hocker added to that haul in a surprise win in the 1500 m earlier Tuesday: in what was supposed to be a two-man duel between Josh Kerr of Great Britain and Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Hocker outkicked them both down the stretch, setting a new Olympic record in the process.
Overall, the United States has piled up 16 track-and-field medals so far: Kenya and Jamaica has the second-most medals, with four each overall.
Read More: Gabby Thomas Was Thrilled With Bronze in Tokyo. Now Only Gold Will Do
Thomas has improved her global standing steadily, winning 200-m bronze in Tokyo, a silver at last year’s world championships, and now gold. Her 200-m rival, defending world champion, Shericka Jackson of Jamaica, pulled out of the 100-m and 200-m races in Paris. A hamstring issue had bothered Jackson, but that hasn’t been confirmed as the reason for Jackson’s withdrawal in the race. Jackson’s absence positioned Thomas as the clear favorite. She didn’t let the U.S. down.
Thomas’ mother, University of Michigan education professor Jennifer Randall, had to prod Thomas to run when her daughter was younger. Thomas started locking in on track and field her junior year of high school in Massachusetts; Harvard recruited her to run in the 100 m, 200 m, and do the long jump and triple jump. In 2018, Thomas won the 200-m NCAA title.
She moved to Austin after graduation to train for the Tokyo Olympics, which were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the 2021 U.S. Olympic track-and-field trials, Thomas ran 21.61 seconds: only the legendary Florence Griffith Joyner had finished faster.
Thomas had announced her arrival. She followed her 200-m bronze in Tokyo with a strong performance in the 4×100 relay, as the U.S team won gold. Off the track, Douglas finished her master’s degree in 2023 at the University of Texas, where she wrote about racial disparities in sleep epidemiology. “African Americans were more likely to have issues with sleep for social reasons and biological reasons,” she said before the Olympics. “It led them to have lower life expectancy.”
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When she’s not on the track, Thomas works as the director of the hypertension program at the Volunteer Healthcare Clinic, which offers medical services to uninsured patients. She manages volunteers and interacts with patients. This fall, Thomas will be on the card at a women’s-only track event sponsored by Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit and founder of the venture-capital fund 776. The 776 Invitational, which will be held in New York City, will give a $60,000 first-place prize for race winners, substantially higher than the leading pro-track circuit offers.
Thomas’ work at her Games is not yet done, as she still has the relays ahead of her. She could potentially run in the 4×100 final on Friday and the 4×400 final on Saturday.
But first she’ll step on top of the podium, by herself, as 200-m champ.
Correction, August 6
The original version of this story misstated the day Gabby Thomas won 200 m. It was Tuesday, not Wednesday.
