'Spoke it into existence': Gabby Thomas brings home gold in women’s 200-meter

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Gabby Thomas took the gold Tuesday in the women’s 200 meters at the 2024 Olympics with a time of 21.83 seconds.

“We are so happy, I can't believe it. I mean, I spoke it into existence. I know I trained really hard for it, and it's such an indescribable feeling. But I am so happy, I can't believe it,” Thomas said.

Thomas added the new medal to the bronze she took home from the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.

“We didn't want this to be my first Olympics. We wanted Tokyo to be the first one—to train and be prepared for the Paris Olympics—and go for gold this year,” Thomas said.

While enrolled as a graduate student at the University of Texas, Thomas chose to also double down on her track training. Thomas was a decorated runner at Harvard, earning a neurobiology and global health degree.

“Everything just went according to plan. We did everything right. It's so many hours and weeks and months of hard work that people don't see, so I really do feel like I earned it,” Thomas said. “At the same time, I can't believe that I have an Olympic gold medal right now. It's surreal.”

Thomas beat Silver medalist Julien Alfred of St. Lucia by 0.25 seconds, while Brittany Brown of the U.S. got the bronze.

In 2023, Alfred won the Bowerman Award at UT, which recognizes the year's best student-athlete in NCAA Track & Field.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.