‘One of the biggest challenges’ says Paris Olympics champion Gabby Thomas after losing to bronze medallist Brittany Brown at Athlos NYC
Gabby Thomas)
Gabby Thomas participated in Athlos NYC, marking the first women-only track contest. Despite her loss to Brittany Brown, she acknowledged Alexis Ohanian’s role in organizing the event. Ohanian significantly increased the prize money compared to the Diamond League, ensuring all athletes receive rewards and media attention.
NEW DELHI: Gabby Thomas, the Olympic 200m champion from the United States, was outperformed by Brittany Brown, the bronze medallist from Paris, on Thursday. This race was part of the all-women Athlos athletics meeting in New York.
Brown overtook Thomas in the final meters, securing a win with a time of 22.18 seconds. Thomas finished closely behind at 22.21 seconds.
Gabrielle ‘Gabby’ Thomas faced significant challenges leading up to her participation in Athlos NYC, the first-ever women-only track contest independent of the Olympics.
She admitted, “Honestly, it’s one of the biggest challenges I think I’ve ever had to face.” Competing in her signature 200m event tonight after her recent success in Paris, and choosing the track over rest, was clearly taxing for her.
Despite the loss, she shared candid thoughts on collaborating with Alexis Ohanian, the visionary behind Athlos NYC. Earlier this year, Gabby and Alexis announced Athlos NYC 2024, shaping this historical event through their joint efforts.
The meeting saw participation from four Paris Olympics gold medallists and was organized by entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian, who is married to retired tennis star Serena Williams.
Gabby expressed her appreciation for Ohanian, saying, “He didn’t know anything about track, and now he’s using track lingo when he’s talking about, you know, our sport in the races, which I really appreciate.”
Balancing her track duties, Gabby had to step away from her essential role during the organization of the contest. She revealed more about this tonight.
Reflecting on her direct involvement during the Olympics, Gabby explained, “There was a lot of stuff kind of influx when this was going on so all the details weren’t kind of hashed out so definitely was focused on the Olympics for the most part and then, you know everything kind of came together as it should.”
She acknowledged that in her absence, Alexis Ohanian took charge, a move she fully supports.
A total of 36 women competed across six events at the Athlos meeting. The winners received $60,000 each from a total prize pool of $663,000.
That doubles the prize money awarded in the Diamond League final two weeks ago.
Gabby, a three-time Olympic champion, had high praise for the Reddit co-founder. Ohanian has created a competition where each athlete is guaranteed a prize.
Part of the overall revenue is allocated for this, along with significant media coverage. The prize money for the champion, an impressive $60,000, surpasses the Diamond League offerings.
Highlighting Ohanian’s contributions, Gabby once stated, “You see it. I mean, he [Alexis Ohanian] really doubled the prize money of the Diamond League, and that’s fantastic because he saw what we deserve, and he doesn’t want to stop there.”
These sentiments capture Ohanian’s vision for Athlos NYC, with Gabby Thomas being a central figure in its development.
Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn secured the top spot in the 100m hurdles with a time of 12.36 seconds. She finished ahead of Alaysha Johnson, who recorded a time of 12.43 seconds, and Paris gold medallist Masai Russell, who clocked 12.44 seconds.
Marileidy Paulino from the Dominican Republic won the 400m event, finishing in 49.59 seconds. In the 1500m race, Kenyan athlete Faith Kipyegon emerged victorious with a time of 4 minutes and 4.79 seconds. Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith of Ivory Coast achieved first place in the 100m, completing the race in 10.98 seconds.
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