A typical day for U.S. track and field athlete Gabby Thomas is a full 24 hours. During the day, she trains three to six hours in anticipation of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
But at night, she works at an Austin, Texas, volunteer health care clinic for people without insurance.
How does one of the fastest athletes in her sport find the time to do it all? She attributes that work ethic to her mother. When Thomas and her twin brother were young, their mom waitressed and took classes to become a professor.
“She showed me in real time growing up what it’s like to go after your dreams and to achieve them, and to become successful,” Thomas, 27, told NBC News. “I watched her just achieve all of that by herself and while raising us.”
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Thomas’ interest in health care began at Harvard University, where she studied neurobiology. She took a class about the disparities in the American health care system and its impact on people of color. After graduating from Harvard, she earned a master’s at the University of Texas in public health, which she uses today.
“I get to go the clinic and volunteer and make a difference in people’s lives,” she told Olympics.com. “So I feel so fulfilled, and I feel so passionate about everything I do. And (that all) really just comes from gratitude.”
Although Thomas competed in high school, it wasn’t until Harvard that she started winning accolades in track. That’s where she broke the NCAA indoor collegiate record in the women’s 200-meter.
“I was pushing myself in the classroom, in my extracurriculars and on the track, and it forced me to just get better at everything I was doing,” she said to NBC News.
Thomas credits that drive to her success in the Tokyo Games, where she won bronze in the women’s 200-meter and silver in the women’s 4×100 meter relay. She also believes having additional interests outside of track plays a role in her athletic success.
“The way I became successful in track and field was basically running track part time,” she said. “And I think for me that’s really important for my mental health, just having other things in my life that helped fulfill, you know, my goals and make me feel fulfilled.”
