Gabby Thomas, a 24-year-old Harvard grad from Florence, Massachusetts, won the Olympic bronze medal Tuesday in the women’s 200-meters.
Her mom, Jennifer Randall, watched the race from home.
Randall’s nerves are pretty tied up before Thomas is in a big race. She just tries to focus on daily life.
“I followed my same routine [on Tuesday]: my early morning writing, my morning run, strength training,” said Randall, a UMass professor who now lives in Amherst. “Rushed in and got ready for the day just with enough time to sit down and watch Gabby run.”
COVID-19 restrictions at the Olympics have made in-person watching off-limits, but Randall said she always watches the major competitions alone, and in silence.
And this one was amazing, she said, but the broadcast didn’t help settle her nerves.
“I watched online where they were streaming it, and when she — when they — crossed the line, they literally, immediately, went to pole vaulting [on the broadcast],” she said. “For the life of me, I don’t know what that was about. So it actually took a little while for me to see that she actually won the medal.”
