In her star-affirming dash, she retained a preternatural cool more often associated with red carpets than race tracks.
To use a very online term: Thomas has serious aura.
Vogue: Congratulations, Gabby!
Photo: Getty Images
How are you feeling at this moment, a day after your big win?
Has it sunk in?
Gabby Thomas:Its sinking in now.
Thomas edges out Julien Alfred (left) and Brittany Brown (right) during the women’s 200-meter final on day 11 of the Paris Games.
At first, I was completely in shock and disbelief and not really understanding what had happened.
Do you remember the very first thing that came into your head after winning?
What a great question!
Photo: Getty Images
I want to go celebrate with them.
I was so focused and tunnel-visioned on what I was doing, I blocked out everything else.
And just coming back into reality, seeing the photographers everywhere, getting the flagyes, it was disorienting!
With that race in particular and with all your training, are you on autopilot when you run?
Or do you calibrate along the way?
In a race like that, with such high stakes and high pressure, it really is autopilot.
I do remember in my prelim race and my semifinal race, I was very focused on execution.
And when it came time to do it, it was autopilot.
So it was really just letting my body do what I had trained and prepared it to do.
Since last night, have you had any memorable fan reactions?
Or any surprise DMs?
My favorite was Snoop Dogg calling me right after.
That was really exciting and funny.
We love how much of an Olympics fan he is.
I love it too.
I love the support.
We took note of your chic watch and jewelry game out on the track.
Tell us a little about your race-day style.
What I love about track and field is that style and personality are kind of embedded in our culture.
People can express themselvesthey can wear their hair how they want, their makeup, their jewelry.
I think mine is a really classic style, and my partner Omega really complements that.
At the final I chose to wear my Constellation watch, which I love, and its also gold.
I thought, Im going to manifest this gold medal right now and put on this gold watch.
Its definitely my vibe.
You look good, you feel good, you run good!
What is a day off like for you?
What do you like to do most in your free time?
Life for me off of the track is just very, very normal.
I like to hang out with and walk my dog.
I live in Austin, which is a very outdoorsy and chill, fun city to be in.
Im on the trails, grabbing coffee, going to all the lakes.
Very normal, relaxing things.
Austin also has a really great food scene.
Do you still have a Harvard group chat?
How are they reacting back in Cambridge?
Were all uplifting each other, and thats such a beautiful part of Harvard.
And theres ahugegroup chat going on right now.
Theyve definitely been celebrating.
Making a tangible difference and seeing it every day has been really fulfilling.
Then Id like to continue in that space and maybe run a nonprofit.
What areas do you cover at the clinic, out of curiosity?
Im a director of the hypertension-prevention program.
Its about maintaining a close relationship that transcends, in some ways, the traditional patient-doctor relationship.
So thats what I do!
I work with and train the volunteers, and we keep the program running.
It definitely takes a weight off my shoulders.
After winning, I just feel like a lot of the pressure has been lifted.
I can go and have fun.
Were all in high spirits and in a good place to work together and get the job done.
