American Gabby Thomas stormed to a brilliant victory in the women’s Olympic 200m in Paris on Tuesday to clinch the first major title of her career.
Thomas clocked 21.83sec to win ahead of St. Lucia’s newly-minuted Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred, who timed 22.08sec.
Thomas’ USA teammate Brittany Brown claimed bronze in 22.20sec.
Thomas, 27, a bronze medalist at the Tokyo Games three years ago, is the first American woman to win an Olympic short sprint title since childhood idol Allyson Felix won the 200m at the 2012 London Games.
Gabby Thomas described her Olympic gold medal win as “an unbelievable feeling” and “indescribable,” expressing disbelief and excitement.
She reflected on the six years of hard work leading up to the moment, calling it the happiest moment of her life.
St. Lucia’s Alfred had been hoping to clinch an Olympic sprint double after her dazzling win in the 100m on Saturday, extending the dominance of Caribbean sprinters in the event.
But Thomas, the fastest woman in the world this year over 200m, was in no mood to let her date with destiny slip.
The Harvard-educated sprinter exploded out of the blocks and ran a superb bend to open up a sizeable lead coming into the home straight.
The American’s strength and finishing power never looked like waning as she powered over the line to claim a deserved gold.
‘Finish Strong’
Gabby Thomas expressed satisfaction with her race, saying it “couldn’t have gone any better.” She focused on taking the lead and finishing strong, and was so focused that she couldn’t recall where her competitors were during the race.
The win marks a steady rise to the top for Thomas, who first arrived on the international scene in 2021 with a victory at the US trials.
She backed that up with a bronze medal at the Olympics this year, and after struggling with a hamstring injury in 2022, she bagged a silver medal in the 200m at last year’s World Championships in Budapest.
This season she signaled her readiness to finally land gold at a major championship with a string of impressive displays, which included a win in the London Diamond League meeting just before the Olympics, where once again she finished ahead of Alfred.
Thomas added that she had also taken inspiration from compatriot Noah Lyles’ razor-thin victory in the men’s 100m on Sunday.
Gabby Thomas found Noah Lyles’ victory inspiring, feeling it motivated her to go after her own goal.
Silver medalist Julien Alfred expressed no complaints about her performance, feeling satisfied with her results despite the long competition, and was pleased with her achievements of gold and silver in her first Olympics.
With AFP
