Gold for Gabby: Dominant 200m victory ensures Thomas’ first Olympic crown

Gold is Gabby’s, finally.

Gabby Thomas surged to victory the ladies’s 200m remaining on Tuesday night time in Paris, successful wire-to-wire in 21.83 seconds. Within the course of, she has claimed her Olympic gold medal. Thomas led from the gun and completed with daylight between her and silver medalist Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia, who gained 100m gold on Saturday.

“I’m actually in disbelief as a result of having an Olympic gold medal is one thing in my wildest goals,” Thomas mentioned. “However on the similar time I understand how onerous I’ve fought for it. This has been six years within the making, head down, working onerous.

That is the happiest second of my life.

Thomas is joined on the medal podium by U.S. teammate Brittany Brown, who earned bronze for her first Olympic medal. Brown entered Paris with just one world medal (a silver from 2019 Worlds), and her 22.20-second sprint across the purple Stade de France observe has now added an Olympic bronze to her docket.

RACE RESULTS

For the race’s emphatic victor, Thomas, this win comes after a string of falling in need of gold in main title races. On the Tokyo Olympics, she took bronze. In her subsequent big-ticket race, 2023 Worlds, it was a silver. Now in Paris, she’s bought her gold.

From the second she landed within the Metropolis of Mild, Thomas was the clear lady to beat. The withdrawal of Jamaican rival Shericka Jackson solely ballooned that concentrate on.

“There’s undoubtedly some added stress going into this Olympics,” Thomas advised NBC Olympics. “As soon as you have already had success, persons are form of ready so that you can mess up.”

With expectations absolutely mounted, Thomas did not mess up — not even shut. From the second the beginning pistol was fired, she was in cost.

“I simply knew that I had it,” she mentioned moments after her gold-winning run. “It was a confidence you could’t actually describe. After all there was stress, however I felt assured.”

The Paris Olympic title secures the 14th gold medal for the U.S. within the Olympic ladies’s 200m, which breaks a 13-13 tie with Jamaica for probably the most in historical past (no Jamaican earned a 200m medal this 12 months for the primary time since 1976). And Thomas is the primary American since Allyson Felix in 2012 to strike gold within the ladies’s occasion.

The 27-year-old has endeared herself to the American public not simply along with her command of the observe, but additionally along with her extraordinary public well being work. She volunteers weekly at a Volunteer Healthcare Clinic (VHC) in Austin, Texas, which offers main care to kids and adults with out entry to such care.

“Lots of people can say they need to do issues, however Gabby is definitely doing this work at a excessive degree,” mentioned the clinic’s Director of Volunteer Providers, Laura Hurst. “I don’t assume you may underestimate the ability of what one individual can do.”

With a Harvard diploma in neurobiology and international well being, plus a grasp’s in epidemiology from the College of Texas, Thomas is a protected guess to impression public well being for many years after she stops operating professionally.

“It is so fulfilling as a result of we’re truly making a direct impression and these are individuals who actually do have a necessity for healthcare,” Thomas mentioned.