American sprint queen may just be 27 but she’s already thinking of how her life will look like when she hangs her spikes.
Thomas is currently one of the world’s top sprinters after claiming three gold medals at the 2024 Paris Games, becoming the first American woman to achieve the rare feat since Allyson Felix in 2012.
However, life post athletics or sports is one thing most athletes struggle with and admits it gives her chills just thinking that a time will come when she will not have to do what she loves anymore.
Olympics champion Gabby Thomas has shed light on how she is coping with post-season blues which made her first day back in training difficult to deal with.
The Texas-based athlete says she has to keep lying when asked about her greatest fear because saying it’s retirement might raise eyebrows.
«When someone asks me what’s my biggest fear and I can’t say it’s that one day I’ll have to retire and I can’t do my sport anymore and will have an identity crisis so I just say sharks,» Thomas posted on TikTok.
Thomas had a great 2024 season when she floored her rivals to claim gold in 200m at the Paris Olympics before she linked up with her Team USA colleagues to deliver gold in 4X100m and 4X100m relays.
Noah Lyles’ fiancé Junelle Bromfield has sparked buzz after a playful Beyonce moment and cultural adjustments during training.
She is back in training for the 2025 season when she hopes to bag a hat-trick of titles at the World Championships in Tokyo, Japan.
The sprinter still has a lot of time before retirement knocks with the 2027 World Championships and the home Olympics in Los Angeles 2028 also firmly in her sights.
While she fears about what she will do after sports, Thomas is among the well educated athletes, having graduated from the prestigious Harvard University with a Bachelor’s Degree in neurobiology and global health and has a Masters in public health, majoring in epidemiology.
World 800m champion Mary Moraa is the latest Kenyan athlete to sign up for the top paying Grand Slam Track whose winners will take home Ksh13 million from 2025.
She already works as a volunteer at a clinic in Austin, Texas meaning she will most likely take up a career in medicine once she hangs her spikes.