Class. Elegance. Trendsetter. That’s Gabby Thomas for you! The five-time Olympic gold medalist stormed Kingston’s National Stadium at the inaugural Grand Slam Track series, leaving jaws dropped! What makes a Harvard-educated sprinter with Olympic hardware tick? Perhaps it’s the fire of proving doubters wrong! Thomas demolished the 200m field on Friday with a casual 22.62 seconds, making Olympic medalists Paulino and Asher-Smith look like they needed a head start. Then came Saturday’s tactical 400m battle against Bahrain’s Eid Naser, Thomas clocked 49.14 for second place, but those precious points secured her the long sprint jackpot. She amassed 20 points across both races and finished above second-placed Salwa Eid Naser. With that, She earned a $100,000 payday! But what truly hogged limelight wasn’t just the race, it was the moment that followed which had an NFL Veteran response as well.
The video doing rounds on social media captures the pure joy of the moment! There’s Gabby, stepping onto the podium, already breaking into the Dougie? Yes, it. The classic Dallas-born dance move—made famous by Doug E. Fresh—flowed through her as she swayed side-to-side with that unmistakable hand motion.
Then comes the embrace with track legend Michael Johnson, who hands her that envelope, you know, the one with the $100K check inside! Does she stop? Not a chance! Gabby just keeps on dancing, doubling down on the Dougie as if to say, “This is how champions celebrate!”
One person who loved it? NFL veteran and FS1 analyst, Emmanuel Acho, A former linebacker who played for the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles shared the video and wrote: Olympic sensation, Gabby Thomas, hits the Dougie after taking home $100K as a @GrandSlamTrack champion. Gabby has been criticized online for ‘not being able to dance.’ But that check gon dance right into her account,”
Olympic sensation, Gabby Thomas, hits the dougie after taking home $100K as a @GrandSlamTrack champion.
Gabby has been criticized online for “not being able to dance.” But that check gon dance right into her account. https://t.co/ViBhEGqjmD pic.twitter.com/Oa6fWMhHSE
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) April 6, 2025
Well, for the unversed, the whole Dougie thing has a backstory. It started when Track Spice posted a TikTok of Gabby Thomas dancing casually to Cali Swag District’s “Teach Me How to Dougie.” Dressed in a headband, tee, and jean shorts, Gabby captioned it: “Day 5.5 learning to Dougie, keeping my wrists lower.” She wasn’t trying to go viral, just vibing. But instead of fun, the comments mocked her moves!
Gabby Thomas is fed up with Online Trolls
Olympic gold medalist Gabby Thomas has had enough of racist trolls questioning her Harvard education. Back in January, the track star found herself defending her academic credentials after responding to an X user who wrote, “Gabby Thomas doesn’t sound like she’s the brightest out there. Thomas initially replied with humor: “You’re probably right darn my Harvard degree.” But what followed was a flood of comments accusing her of lying about her education.
In a longer post, Thomas addressed the racism in the assumption that because she is Black, she couldn’t have graduated from the Ivy League institution. “Today, on Jan 26, 2025, there are hundreds of people commenting on my Twitter page that specifically because I am black, they must assume I did not earn my admission into Harvard nor did I earn my diploma. Is this real life??,” Thomas wrote in a separate message.
Reddit Co-founder Alexis Ohanian supported Thomas, calling her critics “Clowns, not people.” Thomas graduated from Harvard in 2019 with a degree in neuroscience, and also minored in global health and health policy. In 2023, she also earned her master’s degree in public health from the University of Texas at Austin
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