Gabby Thomas reveals the shocking truth: Her mother forced her into track and field

At a time when she was on the verge of giving it all up, Jennifer Randall helped her achieve Olympic glory.

abby Thomas is fresh off winning three gold medals at the Paris 2024 Olympics, but there was a dark period in her life when she was on the verge of giving it all up. The only thing that kept the American sprinter from surrendering her Olympic dream was the persistence of her mother, Jennifer Randall.

For many, Thomas’ story began with that historic 200-meter heat at Tokyo 2020/2021, when she finished third behind Elaine Thompson-Herah and Christine Mboma. While some would have been content with just making the podium, that wasn’t enough for Thomas.

Three years later, the Stade de France witnessed the sprinter not only win gold in the 200m but also add two more Olympic championships to her list of achievements, in the 4x100m relay and the 4x400m. Thomas is currently at the top of the Olympus, but this would not be the case if it were not for the example and influence of her mother.

In a recent interview with the LA28 project, which promotes the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, Thomas recalled that her mother forced her to continue running when she was on the verge of giving up. “My mom forced me into it,” the runner jokingly declared in an episode of 28 seconds with LA28.

The defining moment for Gabby Thomas

Gabby Thomas is one of those very rare cases where a student excels both on the playing field and in the classroom. However, that can also make them lose focus. In the case of the Atlanta native, “I wanted to play softball with friends.”

Thomas excelled at softball, but her mother was convinced she could become a track and field star. In an interview with The Daily Show, the speedster recounted that Randall told her at the time, “I had a light in me, and that I was going to shine very brightly.”

However, the defining moment for Thomas came later, when she was pursuing her master’s degree in epidemiology. The burden of studying and sports was becoming too heavy, and she was on the verge of quitting the track. “I was actually failing. Not like that cute ‘failing,’ where people are like, ‘Haha!’ Like, I was gonna drop the class,” the runner recalled.

This time, it was her mother’s example that kept her afloat. Randall had a hard childhood, Thomas recalled, growing up in poverty and, in her youth, managing to study for a PhD while raising Gabby and her brother Andrew. “I remember thinking, if she could do that, then whatever I was doing was not hard,” the sprinter explained.

The happy ending

With the agonizing decision of whether to quit classes or leave the track, Thomas enlisted the help of a dedicated teacher and, with Randall’s example in mind, chose an elite track program very close to a top-level educational program in Austin, Texas.