Whatever Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Thomas does, she does it with perfection. In Paris, she had a to-do list fit for a superhero: reclaim the 200m throne for Team USA (no American woman’s won since 2012, by the way), plus lead her squad in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays. Oh, and did we mention her side gig in epidemiology? Her mom’s even cheering her on to go for a PhD! It’s like a lifetime of goals crammed into one Olympic season. So, did she pull it off?

At the Paris Olympics, Gabby Thomas checked all the boxes by snagging three gold medals. Now, with the clock ticking toward that PhD her mom’s dreamed of for her, the 27-year-old is still hopeful. Her mother, after all, once had her own shot at a doctorate but had to let it go. Why? Gabby shared this story, and it sounds like she’s set on finishing what her mom started!

Gabby Thomas reminisces about watching her mother fight 

In Paris, Gabby Thomas’s mother, Jennifer Randall, joined her daughter to set the milestones. For Jennifer, watching Gabby stand on the highest Olympic podium was the kind of moment every parent dreams of—but for her, it ran even deeper. In a conversation on the podcast Why Not Me? with Mike Jackson, Gabby opened up about the grit and resilience behind her mom’s story. “My mom grew up dirt poor in Mobile, Alabama.” She further added Jennifer’s hardship in her childhood when she had to face barriers to continue her studies. As per Gabby, her mother had to make her way, coming from a pack of “eight or nine siblings.” Still, the mother never lost her route. She continued to fight. And the result?

According to the five-time Olympic medalist, Jennifer Randall’s perseverance didn’t stop at a high school diploma. Jennifer put herself through college in Georgia and even made it into a PhD program at Emory University. But with two young twins to raise—Gabby and her brother, Andrew—Jennifer faced yet another tough choice. She picked up a job at a daycare to make ends meet, all while attending PhD classes. And when childcare became an issue?

She simply brought Gabby and Andrew along to class, where they’d sit and watch her work toward her dream. “We had to sit in class with her; we watched her,” Gabby recalled in the tête-à-tête. The experience of watching these things at the same place made a positive impact on Thomas’s mind. In the interview, she continued to add, “I’m going to grind; that was my normal because that’s what I saw growing up—I saw a single mom doing that with twins.” But she has her own story, full of success in different avenues. Did that make Jennifer Randall proud?

The proud daughter feels herself fortunate after filling in the shoes 

In Paris, Gabby Thomas took her mom to witness her making history. And her mother enjoyed every bit of it. In each of Gabby’s races, she used to remain in the stands of the Stade de France to cheer for her daughter, who was on her way to follow Randall’s direction—settling for the big things in life. And the prize? Gabby has her moments on the podiums, posing for the photos with the gold medals around her neck. But the best may have come when her mother hugged her after each race and joined her in the celebration behind the scenes. Meanwhile, Gabby claimed something about her mother. 

In one post-Paris Olympics interaction, Gabby Thomas explained her side after facing a defeat in the Tokyo Olympics. Three years ago, Gabby claimed the bronze medal in the women’s 200m final. But she wasn’t satisfied with it. She needed to grind herself to bring out the best in herself.

Reflecting on those two intense years, she admitted, “I was not even close to being an Olympian myself. But I forced myself to go train with them, and I forced myself to get my bu** kicked in practice every day for two years so that when the time came, I was ready to make the Olympic team.” And make it she did. By the time Paris rolled around, Gabby was unstoppable, fueled by both her grit and her mom Jennifer’s story of resilience. Now? She’s officially marked her place in history.