Watch Harvard Grad, Gabby Thomas, Run the Second Fastest 200m In History
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In a track and field Olympic trial that was full of highlights and record-breaking moments, Gabby Thomas was a standout. In June, she ran the fastest women's 200m at 21.61 seconds, second only to the iconic Florence Griffith Joyner's 1984 Olympic record.
“I am still in shock. I can’t believe I put up that time,” the 24-year-old told NBC Sports. “Definitely has changed how I view myself as a runner.”
Before she cemented her place at the Tokyo Olympic Games, the Northampton, Massachusetts native (who was born in Atlanta) was an NCAA star. She graduated from Harvard University with a degree in neurobiology in 2019. While she was in college, she was named Ivy League’s Most Outstanding Track Performer in 2017 and 2018, and broke the NCAA record in the 200m that same year.
If you're looking forward to seeing Thomas make her Olympics debut, here's exactly how to watch her events on NBC. The track and field schedule is below.
Thursday, July 29
8 p.m. - Women's 100m
Saturday, July 31
6 a.m. - Women's 100m semifinals
8 a.m. - Women's 100m finals
Sunday, August 1
9:30 p.m. - Women's 200m
Monday, August 2
6:25 a.m. - Women's 200m semifinals
Tuesday, August 3
8:50 a.m. - Women's 200m finals
Wednesday, August 4
9:00 p.m. - Women's 4x100m relay qualifying
Friday, August 6
9:30 a.m. - Women's 4x100m relay final
Learn more about Thomas ahead.
Thomas says meditation helped her prep for the Olympics.
In addition to her anticipated 200m race, Thomas is also competing in the 100m and women's 4x100 relay. When it comes to prep for Tokyo, the athlete trains under three-time Olympian Tonja Buford-Bailey in Austin, Texas. But in addition to practices five days a week and managing her diet, Thomas knows that keeping tabs on her mental health is just as vital as the physical side of an Olympian, something she recognized while at Harvard.
"At some point in my freshman year, I realized it was important," she tells Oprah Daily. "Taking a rest day when you need to and asking for rest days. And I needed that now as a professional, definitely more to protect your peace, protect your space. It's up to me to advocate for myself, speak up for myself, take any mental health rest or resources that I need."
One of the key ways she stays centered is meditation, which the 24-year-old has been doing since her college years.
"Still, to this day, I'll use it in my competition warmup," she says. "It's part of my pre-race ritual. The morning I wake up on race day, I do 10 to 15 minutes of meditation and then I go get my latte. Other than the immediate effects of meditation, it's also a long-term thing. It changes your brain chemistry—the way that you breathe, and it does so much for you. I do think it was part of my success at trials and competition; just being able to focus and have that calm before racing."
She's currently working on her masters at the University of Texas.
Yes, Thomas is somehow balancing Olympic workouts and studying for her masters in epidemiology, which she began last year in the midst of the pandemic.
She developed a passion for changing the inequalities in public health while studying neurobiology at Harvard and attending the seminar, "I'm Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired," named for civil rights activist, Fannie Lou Hamer's, famous 1964 speech. The seminar highlighted the health disparities Black Americans face throughout the U.S.
"You see the racism in the healthcare industry, but also the health disparities that are due to past trauma and are passed down, and how we can help remedy that," she says. "It's a very real reality that we need to study. I think it's important to have someone who looks like me—or any diverse race or ethnicity—going into the field of epidemiology specifically, building research, but also going into healthcare management. We're at a good point in the healthcare system where we are pivoting. I think people are realizing that our healthcare system needs to be repaired a little bit. So now's a good time to join this field and try to come in with this perspective and make a difference."
Just before Olympic trials, Thomas had a health scare.
Right before June's Olympic trials, Thomas went to the doctors for a hamstring injury. However, an MRI of her lower back revealed a tumor in her liver. Though there were concerns it was cancerous, she soon learned it was benign.
“At first I wasn’t too worried about it, but the more I kept talking to doctors they kept saying cancer,” Thomas told NBC Sports. “Fortunately, they found out it was benign just a couple of days before I left. I remember telling God that if I am healthy, I am winning trials.”
She adopted an adorable pug during quarantine.
When Oprah Daily asked what brings Thomas the most joy, she named her pug Rico, who she adopted 6 months ago.
"One guy I couldn’t wait to celebrate with when I got home," she captioned an Insta photo of her and the pup soon after she qualified for Tokyo.
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