"To follow in her footsteps is such an honour" — Gabby Thomas on matching Allyson Felix's golden feat
The 27-year-old went from bronze in Tokyo to gold in Paris, marking her as one of the sport's brightest
Athletics
U.S. sprinting star Gabby Thomas grew up idolising one of the all-time greats in her sport: Allyson Felix, the seven-time Olympic champion.
Last month, she followed in her footsteps, becoming the first American woman to win the 200m at the Olympic Games since Felix stood atop the podium at London 2012.
“Being the first woman to win the 200m gold since Allyson Felix in 2012 is such a great feeling because I have looked up to her for so long, ever since I was a child,” Thomas told Olympics.com in Paris after her golden triumph. “She’s such great representation, but I still never imagined that I would be quite in that exact position.
“So, to be here and follow in her footsteps is such an honour, not only because of what she does on the track and her performances,” she continued, “but what she does off the track and what that means for myself and other young girls.”
Thomas’ 200m triumph was a 21-second affair.
But it was something the 27-year-old says took years and years.
“I’ve grown so much as an athlete since Tokyo,” said Thomas, who won the 200m bronze there. “It’s all part of this process and this grand play of working my way up to be a gold medallist, and then, just going for it and taking that opportunity and doing it.
“It all kind of made sense, it’s a culmination of just years, months, weeks, days and minutes of making the right choice over and over again so I can have the opportunity for gold.”
Like Felix before her, Thomas now finds herself a role model in her own right as she emphasises the role education has played in her rise to the top.
“I always say education has been my foundation for success – it opens doors and empowers us to chase our dreams,” she wrote recently on Twitter. “Stay curious, stay driven, and never stop learning.”
And the Harvard grad isn’t done yet, saying she’s already got an eye on a home Olympic Games in four years’ time in Los Angeles.
“It is incredible that the next Olympic Games are on home soil. I cannot wait to be able to represent our country at home,” she told us. “It’s been so much fun to do it here in Paris, but to be able to compete for your country, in the country, in LA, is going to be such an amazing feeling.
“I know we’ll have so much pride and people will be so excited to be there and celebrate us,” Thomas continued. “It’s hard not to look ahead… but I’m definitely looking forward to that.”