Rutgers’ Quadruple Major Proves Gabby Thomas’ Olympics Winning Technique

Success in track and field isn’t just about crossing the finish line first; it’s about the grind, the blood, sweat, and energy. But sometimes, it takes more than just hard work, it takes magic. Gabby Thomas is living proof of that. She once said, “Education has been my foundation for success, it opens doors and empowers us to chase our dreams. Stay curious, stay driven, and never stop learning!” And she’s clearly taken those words to heart. In 2024, she took home not ONE, not TWO, but THREE gold medals at the Paris Olympics. But Gabby isn’t just about the medals!

Gabby Thomas also has the brains to support it. She is a Harvard alumnus with a bachelor’s degree in neurobiology and a master’s in public health from the University of Texas Health Science Center. Today she works in healthcare as an independent consultant, at the age of 27, and eyeing a PhD. Maintaining both an athletic career and being a solid student is not easy but Gabby is proving to everyone one doesn’t have to choose between playing sports and excelling academically. And seeing her, it appears Rutgers 22-year-old quadruple-major is heeding this advice.

This 22-year-old is crushing 4 majors

Albert Zou is proving to us that it is possible not to be a nerd and be athletic at the same time. This guy is 22 and studying four majors at Rutgers University including computer science, math, linguistics, and cognitive science. Wait, it does not end there. He has been taking those very demanding courses all at once and also competing in Ironman triathlons. In 2024, he took part in the Ironman 70.3 World Championship held in New Zealand. That’s a brutal 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike ride, and a 13.1-mile run, and he did it all while handling the maximum 21-credit load at Rutgers. Well, how does he achieve all this?

Zou’s secret is rather basic: quality of effort rather than quantity of effort. His idea is based on the fact that one has to be constant in their efforts in order to make a change. He is not trying to overdo it and do all the tasks at once and exhaust himself. He just wants to keep moving forward in small increments, no matter the situation, be it at school or practice. He rises early for classes, then has lunch to charge up, and then there is time for training. He’s knocking out those Ironman training goals like swimming 10,000 yards or cycling 200 miles per week. Despite the fact that he has a lot of activities in his life, he always ensures that he sleeps for at least eight hours. Albert is quite a determined man and what is even more amazing is that he does not get discouraged by setbacks!

Zou had an ankle injury that affected his training but he has been going through it. He has also been working as a learning assistant at his computer science department and the professors adore him. For instance, Ana Paula Centeno calls him “fantastic.” However, to make this balancing philosophy more tangible, it was a close one that inspired Gabby Thomas.

Gabby Thomas’s mom inspired her to achieve greatness on and off the track

Gabby Thomas is not your ordinary Olympian by any stretch of the imagination. Yes, she won gold in the women’s 200-meter final in the Paris 2024 Olympics in a time of 21.83 secs but this is far from it. As she said when celebrating her victory “I want to inspire the youth…to find their passions and be successful. I want young girls to look at us [medal winners] as strong female athletes and feel like they can do it, too.” However, the most important aspect, that sets Gabby apart from other athletes, is the fact that she manages to excel both in sports and in class.

Unlike many athletes, who expect success in games, Gabby has education as the key to her success. She has a bachelor’s degree in neurobiology from Harvard University and a master’s in public health from the University of Texas. It was her single mother, a professor, who sacrificed her time, sleep, and effort to make sure Gabby and her brother were provided for and at the same time fulfill her desire to be an academician.

“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 recognise,” Thomas told Olympics.com. “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… I mean, that was a lot to watch.” Gabby believes that education has always been the key to unlocking her potential, both on and off the track.

But still, Gabby Thomas finds the time to be a volunteer at a healthcare clinic for uninsured patients and coordinate a hypertension program there. As she says, “I love having something completely different to focus on.”  It is the love for the two different activities, sports, and studies, that keeps her going. Her mother set a hard-working ethic for her daughter and that guides Gabby to prove that anything is achievable not just in sports but in life. With the future ahead of her, “you can achieve your dreams through hard work… [through that] and anything is possible,” a message she hopes resonates with young girls everywhere.