Was Gabby Thomas banned for anti-doping violation? Olympic gold medalist breaks silence with clarification.
Olympics 200m champion Gabby Thomas has finally broken her silence on an incident that once threatened her promising sprinting career.
The American star, who dazzled at the Paris Olympics with three gold medals, has clarified the truth behind her alleged suspension for an anti-doping violation.
In a heartfelt video posted on TikTok, Thomas recounted how she was provisionally suspended in 2020 after missing three doping tests in succession.
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Thomas revealed that the suspension stemmed from her lack of awareness of anti-doping protocols during her junior year at Harvard University.
“I was never banned, I never committed any type of anti-doping violation. Once I decided to speak out for myself, everything was cleared out,” Thomas said.
The Olympic champion shed light on the often-overlooked requirements imposed by governing bodies such as USADA and World Athletics.
Athletes who achieve elite sprinting times, she explained, are required to log their daily whereabouts in a specialized app for random testing.
“For those of you who don’t know, once you hit a certain speed in track and field, you’re enrolled in anti-doping testing—it doesn’t matter if you’re a pro, in college, or just fast for fun. Two organizations oversee this process: USADA and World Athletics, with the latter having stricter requirements,” she explained in her TikTok video.
She went on to add, “You actually have to upload your whereabouts into an app every single day. I got an email saying that I needed to put my whereabouts in, and I had no idea what that email was. I didn’t have an agent. I asked my coach and my teammates, but they did not know what it was because we’re not involved in the professional tracking field. So I thought it was a scam.
Although the provisional suspension could have derailed her career, Thomas persevered and has since become one of the most dominant figures in women’s sprinting.
She was last seen in action at the USATF Nationals, where she secured her spot at the World Championships by edging out Brittany Brown in a thrilling 200m final.
The doping confusion was not the only health scare Thomas has had to endure. Ahead of the Paris Olympics, she faced another challenge when doctors discovered a liver mass during an MRI scan for a hamstring strain.
“That was a really stressful time period. So, I did have a hamstring, like a slight hamstring injury strain. And I got a routine like MRI for that. And in the MRI, they found a mass on my liver that, honestly for me like I do I read so many like health research papers. I remember thinking it’s probably fine… But then I remember my doctor telling me like, ‘No, this looks bad. You should go get like further checked on,’” Thomas shared on The Squeeze podcast.
She recalled the fear of possibly missing the Olympic trials, saying, “And I was like, ‘Oh my god, this was maybe 3 weeks before our Olympic trials.’ And so I was close. I was stressed. I was really stressed out.”
Thankfully, further tests cleared Thomas, and she returned to the track determined to make the most of her second chance.
“I just remember like making that promise to myself and to God. And thankfully everything did end up being fine,” she said.
That promise translated into history-making performances in Paris, where she clinched gold medals in the women’s 200m, the 4x100m relay, and the 4x400m relay.
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