'It scared me' - Gabby Thomas opens up about moment of reality check ahead of first Olympic trials about track career

Gabby Thomas opened up about a reality check moment ahead of her first Olympic trials. The Olympic champion sprinter had recently attended a podcast session with the Williams sisters, Serena Williams and Venus Williams.

Titled 'Stockton Street', the session was conducted at the Icahn Stadium in New York City, which also serves as one of the main venues of the ATHLOS meet. During the session, Thomas was asked about her debut Olympics, i.e., the quadrennial event in Tokyo.

Thomas opened up about her journey, as well as advice from her coach, Tonja Buford-Bailey, that almost scared her. She explained about the advice given at the Olympic trials held in Eugene in 2021, when she said,

"I remember her saying, sitting me down and being like, 'Look, nobody cares that you were here. Nobody cares that you were running. You need to win. All they care about is medals. These shoe companies that pay you, all the brands that pay you, all they care about is medals. So you can be here, you can have fun all you want, but that's not gonna work here, and it scared the, it scared me." [13:58 onwards]

Gabby Thomas was last seen in action at the US National Championships this year. She had to withdraw from the World Championships in Tokyo due to recurring injuries.

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When Gabby Thomas talked about being uncomfortable ahead of first major move for professional career

Gabby Thomas at Grand Slam Track Philadelphia [Image Source : Getty]

Gabby Thomas previously opened up about feeling uncomfortable ahead of a bold move she took in her professional career. The Olympic champion sprinter mentioned in the aforementioned interview with the Williams sisters,

"I wanted to see if I could make the team, you know, this was for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and I did not know what I was doing. So, I moved to Austin, Texas, and I was so uncomfortable. I moved there to be with other Olympians."

Thomas further revealed that she was initially hesitant in adjusting to the new environment. In her words,

"One, I wasn't as talented as everyone else, so we'll start there. Track is subjective. So, you look at the times, and my times were not as fast as everyone else, and where I was at that point was not good enough for me to get into the Olympic team. It wasn't, and I just had to believe that I could get there and what I wanted to put myself in an environment and position where I had to grow, and I got my a** beat in practice every day, and it was so hard."

Gabby Thomas has five Olympic medals and two World Championship medals to her credit. The American sprinter won three Olympic gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Edited by Animesh Pandey