News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Weds. Aug. 7, 2024: American sprinter Gabby Thomas thrilled many and disappointed others when she won gold in the women’s 200-m finals at the 2024 Olympics Games in Paris Tuesday. But did you know that Thomas, like Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Presidential hopeful, has Caribbean roots too?
Thomas has roots in the Caribbean. (Photo by Henk Jan Dijks/Marcel ter Bals/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images)
Thomas’ dad, Desmond Thomas, is Jamaican-American while his dad, like Harris’ dad, was born in Jamaica. Desmond Thomas enjoyed a football career at Duke University and had a brief career as a defensive back, appearing in games for the Blue Devils in 1995. He now lives in Chicago.
ABOUT THOMAS
Gabby Thomas was born on Dec. 7, 1996, in Atlanta. Her mother, Jennifer Randall, is an African American who earned a PhD from Emory University in 2007 and worked as a professor at UMass Amherst. In 2007, Randall moved the family to Massachusetts to teach at the University of Massachusetts. She now works as the Dunn Family Endowed Professor of Psychometrics and Test Development at the University of Michigan’s School of Education.
Gabby Thomas has given props to her Jamaican roots. Ahead of the Monaco leg of the Wanda Diamond League last year she stated: “Everyone knows that I am Jamaican because I do believe that that’s where I get my fast roots from. I’m just not going to sugarcoat it that’s what it is,” she had put it straight.
“My grandfather is actually Jamaican,” she added. “He lives there and he is from there and then my dad didn’t grow up in Jamaica, but he is Jamaican and he always liked to bring the culture home with me .. um make sure that I was proud to be Jamaican.”
START IN SPORTS
Initially a softball and soccer player, Gabby Thomas joined the track and field team at the Williston Northampton School. Inspired by Allyson Felix, she set multiple school records and was named the most valuable player each year. A Harvard University graduate, Thomas studied neurobiology and global health, later earning a master’s degree in epidemiology from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 2023.
During her time at Harvard, Thomas won 22 conference titles and set records in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and indoor 60 meters. She turned professional in October 2018, signing with New Balance.
Thomas faced a health scare in 2021 with a benign tumor on her liver but went on to represent the U.S. in the 200m at the Tokyo Olympics. Her 21.61-second finish at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials was the second-fastest ever at the time.
In March 2022, she started her outdoor season with the fastest-ever season opener by any female sprinter in the 200m at the Texas Relays in Austin. Despite a hamstring injury in June 2022, she returned strong, setting a personal record of 49.68 seconds in the 400-m in April 2023. She became the U.S. national champion in the women’s 200m in July 2023 and won silver at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, contributing to Team USA’s gold in the women’s 4×100-m relay.
2024 Olympics
Gabby Thomas qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics by winning the U.S. Olympic Trials 200m race and went on to win gold in the 200m at the final pre-Olympic Diamond League meeting. At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, she clinched gold in the 200-m women’s race with a time of 21.83 seconds, finishing ahead of Caribbean sprint star and world’s fastest woman, St. Lucian Julien Alred.
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