Imagine Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Thomas playing softball for Harvard University in the regular season! Or you can imagine her missing the Paris Olympics, as softball wasn’t on the list! A hard job, right? After all, just 90 days ago, she presented a show in the French capital. As per schedule, Thomas entered three track events in the Paris Olympics and because of her Midas touch, she turned everything into gold. First, she converted her Tokyo Olympic bronze earned in the women’s 200m event into gold. Later, she came back to the women’s relay events to extend the fun. But these wouldn’t have been possible for a few reasons. 

Yes, Gabby Thomas wasn’t meant to sign up as a track athlete at all. Rather, in childhood, her eyes were set on softball. Then what happened in the middle years? How did her route change? Let’s explore the background. 

Gabby Thomas shares details on her changing track in sports

Recently, Gabby Thomas joined the NYRR Set the Pace podcast hosted by Peloton. In the podcast, the 27-year-old athlete revealed a few things regarding her upbringing days, spent in Georgia and Massachusetts. Meanwhile, the discussion took a turn to the discussion of her initial years in track and field sports. However, Gabby put a needle into the bubble by claiming that athletics had failed to interest her in her school years. But softball did the job for Thomas, giving her space to spend time with her friends. That’s why she joined the softball team at first. Then how did track and field sports come to her? As per Gabby, her mother, Jennifer Randall, “did force” her to take up the sport. A spectacular revelation! But what did she notice in her daughter that made her finalize her decision? 

In the podcast, Thomas herself revealed the answer. She said, “She [Jennifer Randall] knew that I was fast because I grew up doing recreational sports… So she actually took it upon herself to take me off the softball signup sheet and sign me up for track.” After this, Gabby Thomas had nothing to do except give in to her mother’s wish. In her stint at Williston Northampton School, she joined the track team. But shifting to the new sports field did not warm her up initially. However, with time, Gabby started to feel her spark in track sports. So had her mother’s choice been a watershed moment for her? 

According to the five-time Olympic medalist, it was. But despite her mother’s forcing on the primary point, Thomas never felt any pressure from her to do better in the sport. “At no point in my life felt like my mom pressuring me to do anything… I never felt like I was being forced to do any type of activity or be a great athlete,” Gabby claimed. This kind of independence helped her flourish in the sport in the meantime. Yet, the athlete found motivation from another source to go along in her new shoes. 

The dreams to earn big found motivations in the home 

From her years in softball to the Olympic glory, Gabby Thomas has covered a tremendous journey. Now she wears multiple hats, not only as an athlete but as a motivational factor for all those girls who dream to claim big in athletics. Her role as the poster girl for the Athlos NYC 2024 exemplifies that segment. Notably, the Athlos NYC 2024 posed as the first women-only track contest in the sport’s history. So leaving softball far behind, Gabby is trying to attract more individuals to the track sports. But does such a lofty job make her tired? She had the option to settle in her sports only. Why is she doing an extra job? 

The reason may again lead to Jennifer Randall. In her interaction with The Guardian, Thomas said, “I think watching her as I was growing up and how hard she worked, that’s impacted me in ways that I probably can’t even recognize… Watching her be a single parent without two pennies to scrub together and working her way up and to being what she is now, a successful professor living out her dreams and starting a non-profit to help people get education.” Those factors instilled the will in her—giving back to the sport. Gabby Thomas is now doing it with all of her energy.