Sprinter Gabby Thomas Reveals The Best Part of the 2020 Olympics (2024)

Originally appeared on E! Online

For American sprinter Gabby Thomas, there was no running away from the absurdity that was the 2020 Olympics.

For starters, the pandemic-era Tokyo Games actually took place in 2021. "That was confusing, right?" Thomas joked in an exclusive interview with E! News. And then there were the myriad protocols put in to place to ensure each athlete would be able to compete with contracting COVID-19. "The deal was, everyone had to stay in the Village," she explained, "nobody could leave and we were tested multiple times a day."

The result: Thomas was able to toe the starting line with her fellow competitors, racing her way to a bronze medal finish in the 200m and helping the American women earn silver in the 4x100m relay.

As for the experience off the track, "That was kind of fun, right?" admitted the 27-year-old. "Because everyone was hanging out and I always describe it as summer camp when people ask me, because everyone was really just in that village together."

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But as much as she's hoping to recapture that sleepover-like quality at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, it would also be très chic to be able to explore the city a bit.

"Now it'll be nice because we'll all be in the village together," noted Thomas, "but people probably won't feel as contained and stressed out from the repercussions of COVID."

And as much as she's excited to catch a glimpse of the Seine and the opening ceremonies, "because we weren't able to do that last time," mostly, she said, "I'm looking forward to being able to share the experience with my friends and family—and my team, everyone who helped me get to that point. In Tokyo my coach was allowed to be there and that was pretty much it. So that's going to be an amazing moment."

Sprinter Gabby Thomas Reveals The Best Part of the 2020 Olympics (1)

Heading up her cheer squad is mom Jennifer Randall "for sure," said Thomas, who also namechecked coach Tonja Buford-Bailey, boyfriend Spencer McManes (a former Yale football standout) and her mentor at the Volunteer Healthcare Clinic in Austin where she makes use of the neurobiology degree she earned from Harvard and the master's in public health she received from the University of Texas last May.

"Growing up with a single mom and coming from not having anything and now she's just living her dream as a professor at the University of Michigan," marveled Thomas, "watching her work for that has been so influential to me, and she's still someone that I call to talk to all the time about everything."

Among their topics of conversation is when exactly Thomas might return to school to seek out a PhD. Though at the moment, her plate isn't just full, it's overflowing.

Sprinter Gabby Thomas Reveals The Best Part of the 2020 Olympics (2)

Because in addition to doggedly pursuing Olympic gold in Paris, she's still focused on her equally ambitious plan A of changing the world. Back when she graduated from Harvard in 2019, the Atlanta native was lured to Texas both by the opportunity to train with Buford-Bailey's track club and to earn another degree.

"That was my life path," she explained, "to volunteer at this clinic, get my master's in public health, graduate and do a fellowship, and then continue on that journey working in the health care space. And then, you know, COVID happened and I saw even more how socioeconomic disparities were disproportionately affecting people of color, which really validated my desire to continue this journey."

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So she moved full speed ahead with both goals.

Though she's been hot on the heels of idols like the now-retired Allyson Felix and the late Florence Griffith Joyner, Thomas never really thought she'd be a professional runner.

"There's no guarantee that you're going to have success in track and field," she explained. But after she earned her way onto the U.S. team for the 2020 Games, "I definitely saw my track career differently. I knew it was something that I wanted to do for as long as I could, especially as you see these women in the sport, they run well into their 30s now, they're sprinting and doing better than they ever had before. So that's what I saw for myself."

Sprinter Gabby Thomas Reveals The Best Part of the 2020 Olympics (3)

But that doesn't mean she needs to run away from her original love. "I came to a point where you think, 'Do I have to make a choice?'" she admitted. "And I thought, No, because I've never had to choose before. I've always been able to pursue exactly what I wanted to do and I've always been able to do it all, and so I told myself, I'm going to do it all! I'm going to utilize this master's and work on this health equity stuff that I love, and help make an impact on the community while also running on the track."

For Thomas that means leaning into opportunities like the chance to partner with Eli Lilly and Company—the health equity sponsor of Team USA.

Given her areas of expertise, she was particularly drawn to the brand's "work to increase diversity in clinical trials and expanding education and employment opportunities for people in historically marginalized communities," noted Thomas. "It's just been really important to me, I dedicate a lot of my time off the track to this purpose and this is something that I've been passionate about through high school, through college, and even through my master's, so I'm really excited."

But as eager as she is to hit the ground running with her work in health, she has no plans to hang up her spikes anytime soon.

"I definitely want to continue running for awhile," said Thomas, indicating Paris won't be her last Olympics appearance. "I'm so inspired seeing what these other women in the sport have been doing and how long they've been able to have their careers—and juggle other parts of their life—so I can do the same thing. Some people get tired of running, some people just don't want to do it, but I do."

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