Gabby Thomas Lets Out Mother’s Decision That Tore Her Away From Friends to Track and Field Glory

Today, the 27-year-old is a three-time Olympic gold medalist after her stellar performance at the Paris Olympics. However, you may be surprised to know, that the Harvard University alum didn’t always dream of earning Olympic gold. Instead, she may not even be racing today if it wasn’t for her mother, Jennifer Randall!

Gabby Thomas enjoyed every different sport

Fresh off the golden treble at the Paris Olympics, the neurobiologist is already appearing in promos for the LA 2028 Olympics. While answering as many questions as she could in 28 seconds, Thomas revealed that Randall forced her to focus exclusively on track and field. “My mom forced me into it,” said Thomas during an episode of 28 seconds with LA28.

“I wanted to play softball with friends,” added the 4x100m relay world champion. Besides belonging to the rare breed that aced both sports and academics, Gabby Thomas was also interested in multiple sports. However, her PhD. holding mother made a judgment call. She understood that while her daughter played softball, she would excel in track and field.

While the 200-meter specialist may not have loved her mother’s decision, in hindsight, it seems genius. While speaking about Randall on The Daily Show, Thomas said that her professor mother once told her, “I had a light in me, and that I was going to shine very brightly,” and she has never forgotten that conversation. Today, Randall’s belief in her daughter’s abilities has paid off.

However, sprinting isn’t the only field where Gabby Thomas’s mother envisioned her daughter’s success. The Psychometrics also told her daughter that her “purpose” was to “give it back to the world.” During the clip, the Georgia native said she would “probably be working in healthcare,” if she didn’t compete on the track. Today, Gabby Thomas is a pro both on the track and in healthcare education. But did you know this University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston epidemiologist almost called it quits on running?

Jennifer Randall didn’t just fuel her daughter’s Olympic dreams; she also made sure quitting was never on the table!

Just because Gabby Thomas has nailed both Olympic medals and top grades doesn’t mean it was a walk in the park. The 5-time Olympic medalist spilled to Sports Illustrated how she was on the verge of quitting training due to poor academic performance. “I was actually failing. Not like that cute ‘failing,’ where people are like, ‘Haha!’ Like, I was gonna drop the class,” Thomas admitted to Sports Illustrated.

Facing the prospect of either repeating the semester or switching majors, she was on the brink of giving up. But thanks to a supportive professor, she got a plan in place and graduated on time with her neurobiology degree. Fast forward to the summer after her sophomore year at Harvard, Thomas was ready to quit track.

Although she initially ran for fun and because she was good at it, she wanted to shift her focus to global health. Yet, learning about others’ struggles and reflecting on her mother’s tough upbringing made her reconsider. Randall, who grew up in dire conditions and put herself through school while raising Gabby and Andrew as a single mom, was a huge source of inspiration. “I remember thinking, if she could do that, then whatever I was doing was not hard,” Thomas shared.

Determined to balance her passions, Thomas chose an elite running program in Austin, Texas, near a top public health master’s program. She pushed herself through grueling training, saying, “I was not even close to being an Olympian myself. But I forced myself to go train with them, and I forced myself to get my butt kicked in practice every day for two years, so that when the time came, I was ready to make the Olympic team.” 

So, while Gabby Thomas might not have been thrilled about her mom pushing her into sprinting, she has no regrets. In fact, the Olympic champion is grateful for all the life lessons Jennifer Randall has imparted. What do you think about her mom’s role in Gabby’s career? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!