America’s Gabby Thomas powers to Olympic 200m gold

Gabby Thomas wins Olympic 200m gold in Paris, fulfilling childhood dream with a dominant performance.

America’s Gabby Thomas stormed to a brilliant victory in the women’s Olympic 200m in Paris on Tuesday (August 6, 2024) to clinch the first major title of her career.

Thomas clocked 21.83sec to win ahead of St. Lucia's newly-minted Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred, who timed 22.08sec.

Thomas' USA teammate Brittany Brown claimed bronze in 22.20sec.

Thomas, 27, a bronze medallist at the Tokyo Games three years ago, is the first American woman to win an Olympic short sprint title since childhood idol Allyson Felix won the 200m at the 2012 London Games.

"It's an unbelievable feeling," Thomas told reporters after her win.

“It’s indescribable, I’m so excited. If I didn’t get this gold medal today I don’t know what I would have done.” she said. “I’m really in disbelief because having an Olympic gold medal is something in my wildest dreams. But at the same time I know how hard I’ve fought for it.” she added.

"This has been six years in the making, head down, working hard, going to really hard meets, pushing yourself, and now it's here and I've done it. This is the happiest moment of my life."