Olympic medalist Gabby Thomas on her struggles with imposter syndrome: "I felt like I didn't belong there"

In 2021, US track star Gabrielle Thomas electrified the sprinting world with her remarkable performance at the U.S. Olympic trials, securing her first spot on the Olympic Team. She then went on to win a silver medal in the 4x100m relay and a bronze in the 200m event at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

However, behind her athletic success lies a story of resilience and inner battles. Despite triumphs on the podium, Thomas has openly struggled with imposter syndrome both in the classroom and on the track.

As she prepares to compete at the World Athletics Relays in Nassau from 4-5 May 2024, Olympics.com delves into Thomas’s victories, challenges, and insights in dealing with imposter syndrome.

Post-Tokyo triumphs and World Championship success

Since Tokyo 2020, Thomas has continued to shine on the global stage.

Despite an injury setback in 2022, she won a silver medal in the 200-meter event at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, with her teammate Sha’Carri Richardson winning bronze and Jamaica's Shericka Jackson claiming gold. Thomas also won her first world championship title as a member of the gold-medal winning 4x100 meter relay team.

That same year, the 27-year-old achieved her personal best and secured the fourth-fastest 200-meter time in history, clocking in at 21.60 seconds.

And yet, Thomas feels like sometimes she doesn't belong.

Even Olympians face imposter syndrome

"I haven't always been a star," Thomas explained in a recent interview with Sky Sports. "And every time I enter a new space, I'm challenging myself and putting myself in a space that I'm not comfortable with."

The 27-year-old started to feel out of place during her undergraduate years at Harvard, where she studied neurobiology and global health. "I was in a room with the best students literally in the world. So, of course, I felt like I didn't belong there," she shared. "But I kept working and forced myself to be in that space until I did feel like I belonged there."

From Boston, Thomas moved to Austin, Texas, to train with Olympians and pursue her Olympic dream. There, she encountered similar feelings. "When I moved here, I was not an Olympian. I wasn't even close to an Olympian. Nobody was talking about me making the Olympic team. So when I moved down here and told people, 'I'm training for the Olympics', I felt like an imposter.”

"I had never made a U.S. team before. And so I had to work and fill that gap. And I ended up filling it," she said. "And now I am an Olympian, an Olympic medallist, and a gold medal contender. But I wasn't always. And I had to force myself to be in that space."

Her story serves as a reminder that success can coexist with self-doubt.

Gabby Thomas: the Paris 2024 Olympic 200m final will be an “intense and historic race”

Looking forward to Olympic Games Paris 2024, Thomas is on the hunt to complete her collection with the only medal and title that is missing: Olympic gold.

"When I came back from Tokyo Olympics with a bronze medal and a silver, I was very happy with that. I would have been happy ending my career there. It's really all the outward talk and chatter that you hear that makes you want that gold medal. You're like, Dang, well I really got to go get that! But it wasn't about that for me. It was about the fact that I put on a performance that I was proud of, and that was my best season to date. If I can go and replicate that in Paris I'll be really happy. Hopefully that ends up with a gold medal."

She will face very strong competition with Shericka Jackson, who currently holds the second fastest time ever in the 200m - 21.41 seconds.

"The 200m is so exciting on the women's side, because we're running times that just have not been run before since Flo Jo (Florence Griffith Joyner) holds the current world record of 21.34 seconds, set in 1988).

So the question that everyone will be asking is - will the world record be broken at the Paris Olympics?

According to Thomas, the record has “got to go."

"I personally think with the right conditions, you can't control for weather or the type of track you're running on. But given the weather and the track, I think … yeah, that's going to be a really, really special event to watch," she states.

Who will be the one to do it?

"Shericka Jackson, Elaine Thompson-Herah, me, Sha'Carri Richardson and if Christine Mboma comes back, it's going to be a very intense and historic race. But we're all pushing each other to that level which is really special."

So, the stage is set for an electrifying and potentially record-breaking 200m battle, with the world's top sprinters hungry to make history.

U.S. Olympic Trials are "cutthroat" - Gabby Thomas

But there is still much to come on the road to Paris 2024 for Thomas.

"It's an Olympic year and a lot of the buzz is starting to come out. When we're 100 days out, everyone's getting really excited. So you get really motivated."

But, she first has to run for her Olympic spot at the U.S. Olympic trials from 21-30 June in historic Hayward Field. "There are so many of us who want to be on that Olympic team, especially in track and field," Thomas said.

"It's a hard team to make. It's cutthroat…[Qualification] is late. It's close to the Olympics. So we have all season to think about that qualification process. In my opinion, it's the fairest way to do it, but it's definitely a mental battle.”

Part of that preparation includes competing this weekend at the World Athletics Relays in Nassau from 4-5 May 2024, alongside all-star teammates such as Noah Lyles and other members of the 2023 World Champion 4x100m relay team.

Could gold this weekend be a sign of summer glory? The track world holds its breath.