"I didn't even go on vacation, I didn't do a lot of partying" - Gabby Thomas on getting ready for her quest to win Olympic gold

American sprinter Gabby Thomas recently talked about her desire to win a gold medal at the Paris Olympics 2024.

Thomas kicked off her 2024 season by taking part in the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in the women’s 300m event. After missing out on the Texas meet, she competed in Boston, where she impressed the home crowd by taking the title with a world-leading time of 35.75s.

This saw her finish ahead of Nigeria’s Favour Ofili and compatriot Lynna Irby-Jackson, who clocked times of 35.99s and 36.05s, respectively. Post the meeting, Thomas was interviewed by a Jamaican sports journalist, Cydon Bowen.

The journalist shared the video of this interaction with Thomas on X (formerly Twitter), where the latter talked about her Olympic aspirations. She said:

“I really want a gold medal and I know what that's going to take. So I just, I didn't even go on vacation, I didn't do a lot of partying. I'm just like, I need to rest. I need to rest my soul, get my mind right, get ready for this Olympic year.”

Thomas notably claimed two medals at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 on her Summer Games debut. She bagged an individual bronze in the women’s 200m event clocking 21.87, finishing behind Elaine Thompson-Herah (21.53) and Christine Mboma (21.81).

Gabby Thomas went on to play the role of an anchor in the USA team’s silver medal triumph in the women’s 4×100 m relay, where the team clocked 41.45s.

---

Gabby Thomas opens up on doing volunteering work at a healthcare clinic

Gabby Thomas during a training session ahead of the World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

When off the field, Gabby Thomas also involves herself in volunteering work, having done her masters in public health at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. In an interview after the Boston meet, she revealed (via letsrundotcom YouTube channel):

“Volunteer work is really important to me. It's really important to give back to the communities I live in, and that I occupy, Austin being the main one since I live and train there.”

The 27-year-old added:

“So, I work at a healthcare clinic that provides healthcare resources and services to people who don't have health insurance, and I think that’s huge.”

On being asked about her role there, she responded:

“My role is I manage the cases, so I have a large set of patients who I follow up with and make sure they're getting appointments, getting all their needs, all their medications, and monitoring them and making sure that their lifestyle is in a good shape too."

Gabby Thomas further added:

"So, just developing relationships with the patients and making sure that everything is good, and their health is all right."

Besides being a world-class athlete, Thomas said she dedicated around 10 hours a week to her volunteering work.