At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Gabby Thomas crossed the finish line in 21.87 seconds in the 200m. However, she turned things around this time. On the now iconic purple tracks of Stade de France, the 27-year-old surprised the track and field community by emerging as the Olympic 200m champion. But this wasn’t the only gold she snagged. The sprinter proved her mettle in the 4x100m and 4x400m relay too. It’s safe to say that her second Summer Games berth was a resounding success. 

While she gets to hold on to that title for the next 4 years, it will be interesting to see if she can replicate that magic again at the 2025 World Athletics Championships. In an October 20 episode of the Ready Set Go podcast, Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green pull the curtains back on how things could possibly turn out. One of the many things fans missed out on at the Summer Games was the infamous USA vs Jamaica rivalry. Crème de la crème like Shericka Jackson, Elaine Thompson-Herah and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce were missing from the track. 

But we might likely see Gabby Thompson lock heads with the incredible trio at the World Championships next year. “Shericka is very impressive to me man, like just like once you over her resume from 100m to 200m and the 400m, like Shelly-Ann and Elaine. Their resume is impeccable for the 100m and the 200m,” Green admitted. Thompson-Herah had snagged gold in Rio and Tokyo for the 100m and 200m. However, the Olympian suffered an Achilles tendon injury during the NYC Grand Prix and had to bow out from Paris. 

However, Jamaica still had a chance, with Shericka Jackson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce heading to Paris. The latter was supposed to contest against a stacked lineup in the 100m semifinals. But an hour before the race began, she withdrew from the event. Similarly, Jackson pulled out of the event to “protect my body”, stating that her focus would solely be on the 200m event. But shockingly, she withdrew from that race as well. Amidst their absence, Thomas got to have her full circle moment by crossing the finish line in 21.83 seconds, beating her fiercest contender, Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred. 

But with the trio possibly back next year, things could get interesting. Rodney Green couldn’t help but sing Jackson’s praises, “She is definitely one of the best all-around sprinters female-wise ever, you know what I mean? That right, uh, with the 200 meeting right in the middle, you know?” Justin Gatlin agreed, “I mean, that’s the showdown I want to see. I want to see that Shericka Gabby showdown.” The last time the duo locked heads was at the 2023 World Athletics Championships. 

Shericka Jackson was quick off the blocks and surged ahead of the field around the bend. From that point on, the Jamaican had her eyes fixed on the finish line, securing a shiny gold medal and the world title with a time of 21.41 seconds. This placed her as the second-fastest in history, behind only Florence Griffith-Joyner’s 21.34 from the Seoul 1988 Olympics. As for Gabby Thomas, she trailed behind and settled for second place with a time of 21.81 seconds. However, Thomas’s performance in the 200m raised one pertinent question.

Justin Gatlin expresses concern over this factor leading to Gabby Thomas’s win

The 27-year-old had already etched her name in history in Tokyo. How? By being the first Harvard women’s track and field alumna to snag at the Games. However, she wasn’t done just yet. The sprinter wanted to bag her first Olympic gold in the 200m, and with 21.83 seconds on the clock, her dreams had come true. On the other hand, her rival, Julien Alfred, settled for a second-place finish with 22.08 seconds. However, track and field Justin Gatlin believes that one factor could have led to this result.

Alfred clinched a historic win in the 100m finals by crossing the finish line in 10.72 seconds. Three days later, she locked horns with Gabby Thomas in the 200m finals. However, according to Gatlin, a possible scheduling mistake could have been her undoing. “Julien, I understand you’re tired. You did an amazing job to be able to get that silver in that 200m…I personally understand the toll it takes physically and mentally,” he stated. 

The Saint Lucian sprinter ran the 100m heats on August 2, followed by the semi-finals and finals the next day. With this schedule, Alfred competed for five consecutive days without a break. In contrast, for Gabby Thomas, the 200m was her first event, meaning she entered the finals with a fresh mindset and perspective, potentially giving her a significant advantage. However, putting this factor aside, she acknowledged that everyone had worked hard to reach the finals.

Gabby Thomas bore the fruit of her hard work. “We didn’t want this [Paris] to be my first Olympics. We wanted Tokyo to be the first one to train and be prepared for the Paris Olympics to go for the gold this year,” she confessed. With the Paris Olympics done and dusted, many will look forward to her repeating the same performance at the World Championships in Tokyo next year. Will she be able to clinch a World Champion title against Shericka Jackson, or will history repeat itself?