Florence’s Gabby Thomas coming home from World Athletics Championship with gold and silver medal

Florence’s Gabby Thomas made her first World Athletics Championships a meet to remember. 

After an injury just weeks before last year’s USA Track and Field Championships delayed Thomas’ trip to the sport’s biggest stage, Thomas went to Budapest for the 2023 World Athletics Championships healthy and ready to take on two events – the 200-meter dash and the 4x100 meter relay. 

Thomas was one of the favorites in the 200 dash after cruising to a first place finish at the US Championships in July with a time of 21.60 seconds. At the World Championships, she cruised to a win in her heat (22.26) and in the semi-finals (21.97), earning a place in lane eight in the finals. 

Thomas ran a time of 21.81 in the final, good enough for second behind Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson. The Jamaican’s time of 20.41 seconds had Thomas’ mouth agape after she crossed the line. Jackson’s time put her just seven-hundredths of a second away from Florence Griffith-Joyner’s world record time of 21.34 seconds, which was set in 1988 and has stood for nearly 35 years.

After her 200 meter performance, Thomas had another chance to win a medal on the world stage in the 4x100 meter relay. Thomas and teammate Sha’Carri Richardson, who won gold in the 100 meter dash, didn’t compete in the 4x100 qualifying heats; the team of Tamari Davis, Twanisha Terry, Tamara Clark and Melissa Jefferson combined for a win in the second heat (41.59) to get Team USA in the final. Thomas and Richardson joined Davis and Terry to compete in the final. 

Thomas ran the third leg, picking up the baton from Terry and making up significant ground on the turn, handing off to anchor leg Richardson who outran Jackson to secure the gold. The relay’s time of 41.03 seconds was the fastest time run by a 4x100 team this year, and also set a championship record. The world record (40.82) was set by Team USA at the London Olympics.

]]>