Despite Running Out of Breath, Gabby Thomas Risks It All for Team USA at Bahamas World Relays

The 2024 World Athletics Relays have proven to be opulent in terms of medals for the USA. Winning gold in four out of five events, Team USA asserted its dominance without a doubt. While all of the American track and field stars played their part successfully, one name stood out with special back-to-back performances. Gabby Thomas was part of the women’s 4x100m as well as the 4x400m relay teams, both of which won gold at the Thomas A. Robinson Stadium in Nassau. And it doesn’t end just there.

The two-time Olympic medalist was a driving force behind Team USA’s success in the recently concluded event and sent out a definitive statement about her intentions for Paris. The Olympics are only a couple of months away, and it looks like the 27-year-old has her priorities straight.

Gabby Thomas got by, with a little help from her friends

There was only a gap of twenty minutes between the two final events, which underscores just how good Thomas has been on the second day of the Bahamas Relays. In a recent YouTube upload by Citius Mag, Gabby’s emotions after winning her second gold at the tournament were evident. Standing with the 4x400m squad, Gabby said that her job was made easier thanks to Quanera Hayes’ strong start, which gave her an easy lead from the get-go. The interviewer mentioned that it almost felt like Thomas had to walk into her second final of the day without having time to recover from the 4x100m sprint.

“It’s a testament to how we came to World Relays, we came prepared, we came with the mentality we knew we wanted to get the job done and we were committed to that,” said Gabby about the team’s performance. But she also couldn’t stop talking about how Hayes, Lear, and Holmes helped her get into a different mentality ahead of the 4×4.

“…we we trusted her 100% cuz she’s Gabby you know,” is what Hayes had to say about Thomas’ abilities. With such trust from her teammates, it’s not really surprising that the 2023 World Championships gold medalist once again pulled off another major win. But she wasn’t the only one who made track and field fans throw their fists in the air to celebrate a victory.

Celebrations galore, albeit a minute snag

The team of Courtney Lindsey, Kenneth Bednarek, Kyree King, and Noah Lyles won the men’s 4x100m final, while the squad comprising Matthew Boling, Lynna Irby-Jackson, Willington Wright, and Kendall Ellis won the gold medal in the mixed 4x400m relay race. However, things went out of tune momentarily on Saturday when the men’s 4x400m team was disqualified from the event heat after Champion Allison’s “rookie mistake.” And still, with four major wins, the snag is now at the bottom of the list of hot topics that are sweeping the country right now.

Now, the only thing to be seen is whether Lyles, Thomas, and the rest of the USA’s sprinters go on to mirror their performances from the Bahamas to the banks of the iconic Seine to bring home more gold and honor in July.