An exclusive interview with the Olympic 200m champion on what it takes to stay at the top of the sport, overcoming injuries and leaving a legacy both on and off the track.

Gabby Thomas is preparing to test her limits during this outdoor season. After spending a considerable amount of time on the sidelines last year, the Olympic 200m champion is eager to push the boundaries as far as possible. The ultimate aim? To have fun.

With no Olympics or World Athletics Championships taking place this summer it represents an opportunity for Thomas to focus on reducing her times over numerous distances.

The 29-year-old spent the latter end of last year recovering from an Achilles tendon injury that she first sustained in May but then exacerbated in July. Even though she qualified for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, she pulled out to prioritise her long-term health.

It's not the first time Thomas has had to overcome adversity. After claiming an Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo aged 24, she was one of the favourites, alongside Shericka Jackson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, for the gold medal at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Oregon.

Just two weeks before the USATF Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field, Thomas sustained a grade-two hamstring strain. Despite the injury, she competed in the championships and placed eighth in the 200m final.

With the help of her coach Tonja Buford-Bailey, she navigated the setback and returned to secure a world 200m silver medal in Budapest the following year. Having gained even more championships experience, she then went on to win the Olympic 200m gold medal in Paris, as well as topping the podium in both the women's 4x100m and 4x400m relay.

The US athlete believes that she has become stronger through every setback, putting an importance on learning about herself through each process.

"With major injuries, it is really painful and I mean, emotionally painful," she tells AW. "You work so hard for it. I think the toughest thing about having to drop out of Tokyo last year was just the frustrations of knowing that I worked all year to run really well in Japan [Thomas had a season's best of 21.95 in the 200m].

"I trained every day for that moment. I'm not a stranger to injuries and setbacks though and part of that comes with experience, knowing that you can bounce back from it and become an ever better athlete afterwards. If you want to be at the top of the sport, you have to be resilient. Being grounded is also important and it's good to abide by those principles.

"So, as of right now, I am taking that experience with me. I have had a setback with an injury but that's okay. I will come back stronger. I'm just really looking forward to having a strong season this year. I didn't go to Tokyo as I wanted to take care of myself, so I'm ready for the next few years."

Thomas will open her season – the first time she's been on a track competitively since August 3 – in the 100m and 200m at this weekend's Texas Relays. A regular at the Austin meeting, she will aim to lay down early markers, and may even challenge her personal best in the 100m (11.00 from 2021 & 2022).

Being the Olympic 200m champion, she has already qualified for the inaugural World Ultimate Championship in Budapest, a "made-for-TV" athletics event debuting over three nights from September 11-13.

Thomas states one of her biggest focuses this year however is to see how fast she can go over 400m. At last year's Grand Slam Track meeting in Kingston, the she revised her best down to 49.14, a mark which puts her eighth on the US 400m all-time list.

"With no Olympics or worlds this year, it is a great opportunity for athletes to have fun," she says. "I've explored a few different things in training and kind of pushed it a little bit more on the endurance side [Thomas has publicised mile reps on social media]. Training for three events [100m/200m/400m] has its own challenges because they all require such different skills.

"I want to throw some more 400m races in the schedule this year.  I really do think that I have a lot of potential in the 400m but, that being said, the 200m is always going to be my favourite event. It's my baby and that's the one I'll run in Budapest." 

Thomas has also made a considerable impact off the track in the past few years, and her passion for women's empowerment in the sport is undeniable. Her association with Athlos, the women’s-only track and field event founded by Alexis Ohanian, is one example.

Now in its third season, Athlos will be expanding to a team-based women's track and field league with multiple meets in 2026. Thomas, alongside Sha'Carri Richardson and Tara Davis-Woodhall, is one of three adviser-owners, with a say in how the league will be shaped in future years.

Filled with strobe lights, pyrotechnics and DJ sets, Athlos has attracted a myriad of star names over the past two years, with the last edition seeing the likes of Keely Hodgkinson and Faith Kipyegon excelling on the track, as well as Davis-Woodhall lighting up Times Square in the long jump.

Thomas, who isn't shy about documenting her journey on social media as well, wants to leave a legacy that encapsulates her work both on and off the track.

"I still think about how I started out as an athlete and how the landscape was different," she says. "It's been a lot of fun to grow up with this generation of athletes, such as Noah Lyles and Masai Russell. There are so many personalities, and I think that my generation has done a pretty exceptional job of kind of creating our own brand, marketing ourselves and putting ourselves out there.

"That has given us a lot of opportunity that I think previous generations didn't quite have. But when I think about how I started out, you know I was definitely a bit more timid than I am now. I played in the rule book a little bit more. I thought that things had to be a certain way and that the sport was very rigid. This is how it goes, you say nothing and that's it.

"But in the last few years, I think that I've grown a lot in terms of confidence. I've done well in figuring out who I am and that's really shown in how I've navigated my career. I don't just see myself as an athlete now, but also as an entrepreneur, an advocate and a founder.

"One of my biggest inspirations is Allyson Felix. I've always said that isn't just because of what she did on the track, right? It's because of how she held herself and how she used her voice in many environments off the track. I saw a lot of myself in her. So those are the things that I really admire in athletes and it's something that I really want to replicate in my own career."

Thomas now has her own collection of the New Balance Ellipse, which launches on April 8. After being deeply involved in the design process, the collection – featuring shades of subtle pastels and neutral colours  – was designed to represent her individuality and strength as a competitor.

The collection will feature an array of apparel and a special colourway, bridging the gap between performance and lifestyle without sacrificing comfort or fashion.

"It was amazing to be a part of the design process and to help shape the shoe that truly reflects who I am," Thomas says. "There are so many decisions that you have to make and sometimes you're kind of going back and forth in your own head, but essentially, I just leaned into what felt true to me.

"I love both fashion and competing, so merging both worlds does feel natural, and I'm also just loving the moment for the sport to have, you know, athlete ambassadors like myself who are doing that." 

"It's truly an honour to have my own athlete collection, especially with New Balance. I've got to show my creative side a little bit. And so, you know, for me, this collection is about creating pieces that empower athletes."