Gabby Thomas

What's up, everybody?
Welcome back to another week, another episode of Unfiltered Waters.
And this week, we took it to Austin, Texas for an in-person interview.
Always such a treat for me.
And this guest, to me, is the actual definition of brains, beauty, and brawn.
That's right.
We have Olympic gold medalist, three-time Olympic gold medalist, Gabby Thomas.
She is also a Vogue cover model.
She's a world champion.
She is SI swimsuit model.
She does all the things and it was really, really special to sit down with her.
One, because it has been about 16 months in the making.
We've been texting back and forth before Paris and she has obviously been extremely busy in the past year.
It was also really special because she trusted me to speak about a really, really vulnerable topic and the fact that she just announced literally the day that we spoke that she's pulling out of world championships and that is because her Achilles has been bothering her for months now.
And she made a really, really difficult decision that I know any athlete can relate to.
It weighs on you.
You're not sure what the right answer is.
And it was really, really cool to hear her feel relief in making a decision that she felt was really, really right for her.
So we covered it all.
We talked about Paris.
I had the honor of getting to see her win her gold medal in her 200 meter about a year ago.
We talked about her background racing track and field at Harvard, the fact that she has a degree in neurobiology, her volunteering at the clinic here in Austin.
She actually majored or got her master's in public health and as well as sleep epi, which is so interesting.
And just what a whirlwind and just crazy year it's been and how it's impacted her.
She just got engaged and, you know, what she's excited about that.
But, you know, right now she's just taking the time time that she needs to truly take a reset not only physically but mentally and I'm I'm really really excited for her to get to experience that obviously it's bittersweet not being at Worlds but I just I have not spoken to someone as grounded as Gabby at her age in a really long time and I think for people listening and watching it's such a good lesson on how to be a full person you know it's so easy to slip into that my sport is my identity I know I did but hearing Gabby talk about her success later in her career you know how much emphasis she put on her education how much emphasis she puts on just you know being a really really good human being and in her volunteer work in the public health space it just is a lesson for all of us and so I know you guys will glean so many nuggets from this episode before I let you go and watch and listen I have to say one more time please subscribe to our channel If you are enjoying these episodes, it is such support to us.
So go subscribe and then please enjoy Gabby Thomas.
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Gabby Thomas, welcome to Unfiltered Waters.
Thank you.
I'm glad we finally made this happen.
I know.
I feel like this was 16 months of persistence.
Yep.
Track season's a long one.
A long one.
Well, and I mean, I, when I was looking through your year, I don't like, how in the world have you kept track?
Sanity.
Oh, my gosh.
That is such a good question.
I'm not sure that I have.
I mean, truthfully, it's been a really crazy year.
Yeah.
Post-Olympics, track and field is a lot, but it's been so much fun.
Like, I've done so many things that I never even dreamed or imagined that I'd be able to do.
Yeah.
Like, going into track and field, like, Vogue cover.
I'm just like, literally, what?
Met Gala.
Yeah.
Like, so many fun shoots, meeting such fun people.
Yeah.
So I think just feeling blessed, being rooted in gratitude, truthfully, and remembering that I love what I do.
Yeah.
Have you been able to slow down and have moments of gratitude in it?
I feel like that's such a hard thing to do.
In short, no.
I haven't been able to slow down yet, which is no pun intended.
But I do have these moments.
I'll be randomly driving in my car, and I'll take a second, and I'll be like, Like, Oh my God, is this actually my life?
Like, is this real life right now?
Um, so I'll have those moments or like thinking back to the Olympics and being like, Oh my God, like I, I won.
Like I did that.
Yeah.
So that, that is crazy.
That's still kind of like settling in for me.
Yeah.
And I think when I have a minute to like, you know, breathe and step away from track and field for a second, it'll definitely like all soak in.
Yeah.
It's almost like as an athlete, you don't really have the luxury to do that.
Like, i think the thing that people didn't realize is you you got back into training yeah so not only are you getting back into training you just won three olympic gold medals you're on the cover of vogue like i don't even know how that is such a good point i think there is such like such a misconception misconception about olympic sports and about like how you do the olympics and then you're just like you're good like yes a piece and like no we're getting back to it so soon because the world's is next exactly world championships and the training cycle for these events are so long yeah right in track and field we get about six weeks of an off season and I took eight weeks last year which was super long and I mean that's it and then you're back to it and you're training like October through January then indoor starts and then outdoor starts and then it's a major championship and then you take a couple weeks and you're back at it so yeah there is no stopping there's not really an off switch yeah and even when you're off well I'm just so curious about this for running because in swimming when you are off you completely lose your feel for the water like you take 10 days off like you walking around right now I would imagine it's like us swimming slow all the time but I could be so wrong about that like when you come back after you know six weeks do you lose your feel for speed that's it yeah you definitely do okay no we I totally get what you're saying and that's why you can't take that long off yes right because you you have to maintain that fitness and you have to maintain a certain like I don't even know how to word it but yeah when you come back after off season of track yeah it takes a while to ramp back up okay and it's because we're also we're going so fast I know it might be different for distance runners for example because they're probably not losing a lot of fitness in such a short amount of time but when you're a sprinter it's like you use it or lose it you know like that fast twitch that speed that running like you have to be doing it so yeah unfortunately we can't take that long off and not only is it like physical but it's also like mental like you you want to stay like mentally in it you don't want to be too far away from like your your a game so taking too long off is just I don't know it can be tough mentally to come back for sure yeah I feel like it's we always talk to athletes on here and I felt the same when I competed it's like this really tight rope walk of you have to take time because you need the mental clarity and balance but you don't want to lose your feel where you get back and you're like, oh my God, this is going to take me months to get back.
Exactly.
You don't want to do that and put yourself in a deficit.
But that's also why I say, and I say this all the time with younger athletes who want to go into track or any type of sport, is even though you're on, it's like making sure that you have that life balance while you're also competing, while you're training.
So when I go back to track and field, it's not like one lane, pun intended, but it's not like track is life, nothing else matters, right?
You're doing other things that fill your cup so that you can have long careers, you can have longevity, and you can feel that burnt out because of how long our season is.
Yeah.
No, I think it's so important.
And I think I want to talk, you know, further back in your career of just, I feel like it's a learned thing of balance.
And I think athletes that are 16, 17, 18, haven't quite learned that skill.
I know I hadn't.
And so I love that you're talking about it because I hope that it's one athlete hears you say that.
And it's like, Hey, maybe I, I can go take up violin.
Maybe I can go, you know, it just, it makes a huge difference of that.
not the only that's not all of me it's just one part I really hope so too especially now I think I see so much like specialization and people you know getting younger and younger because we see athletes and people that we look up to on social media and you see what they're doing and you want to be that and you know parents want their kids to have that too but it's really important to know like what it took to get there for a lot of us too yeah and so for me I didn't over specialize right I did so many other sports growing up and athletics to me was fun and it was an escape and it was a way to see my friends and it was a way for me to get better and the goal wasn't you know to be the best track runner in the world the goal was just to be the best version of myself that I could be and to be the best runner that I could be and that was a really important mentality for me going into track and field and going in to the professional landscape yeah so I would really love for people to see that part of it too and then even when you get to the professional world right there are other things about you like you said that other parts of your identity that you can can nourish.
For me, it was academics.
It was volunteering at a clinic and it was maintaining relationships on and off the track.
So that is so important.
And I think definitely contributed to my success and my path to being an Olympic champion.
Yeah.
I mean, I have so many questions.
I was looking, I'm like, you literally are like beauty brains bronze.
Like seriously, I was like, I'm like, Oh, I like, I want to talk about Harvard.
I want to talk about the, you know, why, why you studied neurobiology and then, you know, moving into getting your master's sleep.
I'm going to say this wrong.
Sleep epi.
Oh yeah.
I practice it for it.
I'm still going to screw it up.
Sleep epi.
Epidemiology.
We call it epi.
We just call it epi because no one has time for that.
But yeah, epidemiology.
And then yeah, I focused on sleep.
Yes.
Um, which I feel like is why I was talking to Todd.
I'm like, Oh, that makes so much sense.
Why she was so, had so much knowledge when you were responding to comments.
I was like, she is on it when it comes to I'm so passionate about it.
Like it's weird.
Like I am sure you don't think it's weird because you guys are too, but I'm like, yeah, no sleep is so underrated in our society.
And it, I don't know.
It just really upset me like a lot.
And I'm so passionate about like people understanding how important it is, not just for athletics, but just to live your best everyday life.
Yes.
And I mean, it's, it's an epidemic.
It's a problem.
People need to sleep more.
And they're like, that's the easiest.
Well, I guess for some people it's not the easiest thing in the world, but it's like, we're not saying go all run 20 miles or something like lay your head down and sleep more exactly and a big part of what I was studying was like I understand that you know some people are in different situations right depending on what your job is or how much you work or whatever medical situation whatever your medical situation is but I think as a society as like a public health society we could at least take it a little bit more seriously and come up with solutions to help alleviate that for people who need it most I mean that would be a great start and for people who do have the ability to sleep you know more than they should like my fiance I tell him all the time I'm like yeah I'm gonna call him out because I know he has the hours in the day he might sleep you know five six hours a night and I'm like no babe like come on let's let's try to ramp that up at least eight so is he just like do you guys go to bed together and he's just doom scrolling or like we go to bed together and he truthfully he wakes up really early okay and that's fine but then like get to bed earlier but There's this mentality of, well, I have to get up and work and I have to go be productive.
And that's part of, you know, my thing with society is just, there is no productivity without sleep, right?
There is no best version of yourself without getting the most rest that you can and feeling recovered.
But society doesn't teach you that growing up.
It's like rise and grind.
You brag about like getting four hours of sleep, all that stuff.
Exactly.
And now I look lazy because I'm sleeping nine hours, but.
You need it.
Yeah, you need it.
You need it.
I need it.
Well, I feel like you just and you just told me this 20 minutes ago.
I want to kind of get into what sounds like some bittersweet news for you.
But tell me what you just decided to do yesterday.
Well, yeah, this is so fresh.
So first time I'm talking about it.
But I did have to end my season for the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo prematurely due to an Achilles injury.
And it's an injury that's been bothering me pretty much all season.
It started in May.
Got really bad in July right before our USA Championships.
And Achilles injuries are definitely common in track and field.
I mean, we are running so fast.
And for those who don't know, like if you are, every stride that we race is like five times our body weight of force just applied to our ankle and our feet.
And it's a lot.
And so it's a pretty common injury.
And then when we wear, you know, our spikes, they're meant to, help you know running fast but they don't really help with a lot of support so it's kind of a recipe for Achilles tendon issues and it's been it's been a little tough I think just pushing through it and kind of feeling like I have to run fast because I am an Olympic champion and people expect me to run really fast times and they expect me to come in first and they expect me to race everywhere and so I definitely felt that throughout this season and just pushing through the pain and not really listening to my body.
And...
I guess in the last few weeks I've just really I've really thought about it and I've tried not to let any of the outside noise kind of you know sway my decision but what it came down to was I'm a human being first and I'm not a race car I'm not a source of entertainment for people right I need to take care of my own body and and listen to it yeah and I didn't feel like myself these last couple of months right I don't feel like myself when I'm training and I can't train to the best of my ability when I don't feel like Gabby Thomas on the track.
It was hard.
And so now that I've made the decision not to go to world championships, like I was telling you, I just I feel so much lighter.
Yeah.
You know, I feel like the hard part was training when I knew I shouldn't have been.
You know, it was training through pain and getting through one day and taking one step forward and taking two steps back.
And now I just feel like, no, I'm proud of myself because I am choosing me first and I have a long career ahead of me.
Right.
And I'm training for the next world championships and next Olympics.
And I don't want to put all of that in jeopardy, you know, for one world championships and trying to prove a point.
So I'm focused now on, on getting healthy and making sure that I don't worsen the Achilles, um, stopping now before it becomes, you know, a year to year long process of recovery.
Um, so yeah, that's where I am right now and we're going to be rehabbing it and I'll be back next season.
Yeah.
Healthy and hopefully feeling like myself again.
Oh, that's, that's so powerful and so So just mature, just be like, you know, it's, it's so easy to let the ego inside and let the outside noise win.
And I imagine you had, you know, the, the devil and the angel on each shoulder and how are you grappling with that?
Like, who are you turning to?
Cause I know for a fact, you cannot do that alone.
Like you just can't do it alone.
And I mean, exactly.
It's like the devil and angel on the shoulder.
On one hand, I was like, okay, well I could go to worlds and, you know, because I'm supposed to do it and everyone expects to see me there and I can go fight to win and whatever.
And then the other hand, I'm like, well, I really would be putting myself and my health at jeopardy and I would not feel good about it.
And so it's just going back and forth, but it's really leaning on everyone in my circle.
So my coach, for sure.
My coach is my best friend.
She's been in the game.
She ran as well.
So she understands everything.
My agents, I have a tracking agent and a marketing agent and I have developed so much trust with them so yeah I trust them a lot I trust their insight and I know that they care about me more than just an athlete for them and that's really really important that's rare too it's rare it's so rare oh my gosh yeah I feel really lucky with the team that I've that I've built around me a publicist too she's more than a publicist for me at this point too I feel like she's also like family and a great person to vent to
yeah
then I of course I have my family and I have my I have my friends, I have my fiance, people who knew me before.
I was a track star, people who see me as a person, right?
And not, there's sorts of entertainment on the TV screen.
So having their input is also really helpful.
But at the end of the day, the decision just had to be mine.
It had to be, you know, I know my body, I know how I feel.
And I know what's right deep down.
And so that's really what it came down to.
And I have everyone's full support.
Yeah.
Oh, that just like makes me breathe this type of relief for you.
I know, I know.
that's just so hard like it is just blocking out especially so I don't know I competed in 2008 was my last Olympics without Instagram social media like imagine so I just have such I think I have such a trigger response on behalf of athletes when I see all these armchair critics I'm just like shut your mouth it's gotten so much worse over the past few years too I mean my first Olympics was yeah Tokyo 2021 and I that was probably the first Olympics where social media was the thing.
Instagram existed in 2016, but I think everyone was on it.
Everyone had something to say.
Everyone on Twitter, they had these parasocial kind of relationships with athletes and celebrities and public figures.
But even since Tokyo, I have such an interesting love-hate relationship with social media now.
I love that people have access to me, and I love that I have access to my fans, and I love that I can share so much of my life, you know, on my own time.
But on the other hand, I don't know.
It's just the comments and entitlement that you get from some people who aren't really fans, but just, I don't know, like to be negative is so shocking to me, even still.
And it seems like it's constant.
And it's like, on one hand, I do want to be on social media because I love interacting with people and I love sharing my story.
And I love building my brand on social media.
But on the other hand, it can really take a toll on your mental health.
And I'm not sure how many more times athletes have to share that before people understand that we're human and that we're people.
But I guess it's part of the job now.
It's just learning how to block it out.
Yeah, like trying to find the balance for your own self, right?
It sounds like everyone is different.
Like Lindsey Vonn said she had this filter.
You probably do this.
She has a filter of certain words that blocks out the comments Oh yeah.
I feel like it's, don't you think it's because it makes people feel like they know you on this personal level?
And so they, which I'm like, would you say that to your family member?
Like if you feel like you know you so well, would you be that mean to your friend?
That's such a great point.
Exactly.
If you feel like you know this person, would you actually say that to somebody you know?
And what's really strange to me is I don't think these people, they wouldn't say it to me, to my face anyway.
It's like the people who have all of this to say about me are the same people who if they saw me in person would ask for a picture.
So it's just like the internet gives people like this different identity almost.
And it's so bizarre.
It's so bizarre.
But then at the same time, I'm freaking out over Travis and Taylor like I know them.
I'm fine with like the happy stuff.
Just don't talk about your crap.
It's so true.
And that's what I mean.
I love like kind of maintaining this relationship with people, right?
So they feel like, you know, they're experiencing what it's like to be a pro athlete.
And I think that's so special.
And it's so fun because I'm the same way.
Like, right.
I love to see what other athletes are doing and TikTok trends.
So I'm addicted.
Personality's right.
I love TikTok.
Exactly.
I love TikTok.
So yeah, I just, I guess you take the good with the bad.
Yeah.
And kind of, and kind of manage how you need to go off it when you need to have your manager posts when you need them to post.
Exactly.
Strategies.
I feel like when I look at you, which by the way, I feel so grateful that I was able to go to track and field and watch you win gold in the 200.
So in 2004 and 2008, swimming always overlapped to some degree.
And I never got to go to gymnastics.
I never got to go to track and field.
And so your event was my first ever time at a track and field.
And I got to watch you.
Did you love it?
Oh, my.
It's fun, right?
It's electric.
I know.
I'm like, can swimming be like this?
Because you have 80,000 people, the purple track, everything.
Everything about it was just, I was like really, really like, I like saw your whole like facial expression.
Like I was low, I was low to see it.
So I, and I feel like people that only pay attention to Olympic sports every four years probably can look at you and be like, wow, like overnight success, which is, I just laugh at knowing your story.
Can you take me back to Harvard and just kind of like what you picked up from, you know, each experience at Harvard then moving on to Tokyo because I think something about you is the self-talk the visualization is really almost like a master class for so many athletes on how you went and accomplished what you just accomplished it was what 50% physical and 50% yes definitely definitely and I think one thing that I notice with professional track is I mean everyone is so talented right everyone is physically incredible and what sets people apart is is really the mental piece of it.
And it's the resilience and how you can respond to, like we were saying, people on the internet saying really mean things about you or how you respond to losing and not being your best.
So how can you bounce back from that?
And I think I gained so much of that skillset from my time at Harvard.
Harvard was, while it's not a big track school and it's not somewhere where you go to be the fastest in the country, it gave me so many fundamentals and so many mental tricks to being a professional athlete.
I had a really great relationship with my college coach, Keba Tolbert.
He's still a mentor of mine who I go to for any issues that I have, honestly, or just even for a laugh.
But he taught me to fall in love with the sport.
He taught me to fall in love with the journey.
He is the person who introduced me to meditation.
Meditation is a big part of my practice for track and field.
It's a part of the routine.
I wake I wake up every morning and I meditate five minutes.
I incorporate it into my warmup routine for competition and I do it at night.
And I think it's a great practice whether you're an athlete or not.
It just really grounds you and helps you focus.
And it's just a really healthy kind of habit to get into.
Visualization is another thing that I learned in college.
Visualizing my races, just take a couple of minutes and really just let yourself see your plan and see what you're going to do.
And that was a big part of what I did in Paris for the Olympics.
I visualized that race so many times.
It was almost impossible for me to lose at that point.
I envisioned it from every lane.
I envisioned myself winning.
And yeah, it was just such a great tool that I used.
It's also just Harvard, like I said before, I didn't feel so much pressure to specialize and focus on track and field I was able to grow and nurture so many aspects of myself and personality right I was a neurobiology major and I love neurobio and I loved what I was studying because it was so interesting and at the time I still was trying to be a doctor or whatever it's like it's so funny to think about that now um and I was also doing different clubs and I was like experimenting and meeting different types of people um I joined infinity groups at Harvard and yeah I just did what I loved yeah and that's so important yeah I think that I think that's what I love about your story because you know mine was the opposite right it's like Olympics at 15 there's no time to do that and I think nowadays with social media your story is what everybody should model because there's time for pressure but you have to like let your brain develop as an adolescent to find you know truly who you are as an individual without sport without without accomplishment yes um yeah so that I think is you know when you see that smile that was on your face when you crossed the finish line the 200 it was just clear that yes you were out of your mind excited that you won the gold medal but it wasn't going to just be your entire identity exactly it's not and and that is to say like even your story is so great too and it's like it's for people I think everyone should just kind of figure out their own path right and figure out their own lane and if you are someone who does really well with specializing early and you are happy and you are having success and you can make the Olympics at 15 then like yeah go do that right I think Sydney McLaughlin is someone in our sport who did it really well and she's continuing to do it really well and that just wasn't for me that's okay because I can still get there and just because you're not making an Olympic team super early or you know having success super early doesn't mean that you can't have it eventually 100% I got into the sport later than most people in track do and honestly I'm just I was okay with that and I was comfortable with myself and That's why I'm successful.
So I would just say that to anyone, right?
Like whatever your path is, that's your path.
And that's your pathway to success.
And that's fine.
I think the hard part with younger is like I had, I mean, I had to kind of relearn and relove the sport.
Like I hated swimming for like five years.
So I think, and I know Sydney talked about just her struggle.
So I think it's the reason I'm harping on it so much is I just think that we need to provide athletes with just more tools of like you said like the balance and hey it's okay to have other aspects of yourself yes so that you look back on your time on the sport and don't have moments of regret or don't have moments of oh like I just I hate it you know that's such good advice that's so yeah yeah yeah I can um well I want to talk a little bit about I feel like swimming and track and field is very similar in the fact that it's every four years but yet we have world championships and yes Breaking world records and doing really incredible things every single year, people.
And I feel like track and field is always a little bit ahead of swimming in the fact that you're doing Athlos and there's the Grand Slam track and there's all these events that's really geared towards helping not only uplift female athletes, but also getting money in the pockets of these athletes.
So can you talk a little bit about Athlos?
Yes.
So I was so jealous, like me.
I'm just going to go.
I'm a swimmer, but I'm just going to go.
Oh my gosh.
So excited about Athlos.
Athlos is definitely like one of my babies.
So yeah, I mean, everyone knows every four years people love the Olympics and swimming and gymnastics are one of those sports that people tune in and watch and they're so excited to watch it.
Same with track and field.
So if we can get that attention every four years, it's just, we're wondering why can't we get it every year?
Yeah.
And one thing about track and field is it's very popular overseas like our most of our season is done at the Diamond League which is primarily in Europe a little bit in Asia a little bit in Africa but in Europe and people love track and field there how can we get that in America yeah right like how can we get eyeballs on track and field how can we maintain that interest just in the United States and so that's what Atlas is about it's about making sure that there is top competition every year in the US so that people can watch and a big issue with track and field is that people don't don't know when and where to watch it outside of the olympics yeah yeah right and that's a big thing it's making it easy to watch when we compete in the diamond league people don't know where to watch it they don't know when we're competing i don't even know where to watch it or where do you watch it i mean i think now you can watch it on flow track but so it's it's having that accessibility to the casual fan right we need casual fans to want to watch track and field and know that we're competing and it's also about getting athletes to show up and as you know like if you're not making a lot of money it'll be hard to convince an athlete to put their body on the line to go race and prepare for a race and so a big part of Athlos was also bringing in a prize pot it was the biggest prize pot in track and field history and that incentivizes athletes to show up and so last year we had a great inaugural event in New York City it was so much fun and it was I mean it was a celebration of track and field and it was an entertaining event and that's what sports is at the end of the day it's entertainment.
And you want people to show up at these sporting events and have a good time.
And that's what Atlas was.
And we had great competition and really fast girls running on the track.
So we are bringing it back this year, this October.
Same thing in New York City at Icon Stadium, October 10th.
And then after that, the league is starting.
So the Atlas Track League will be, for now, a series of, I think, three track events.
It's going to be team-based, which is going to be a new model for track and field.
I think that's really exciting.
People can always get behind teams.
It makes it more fun.
It shakes things up a little bit.
And that will start in 2026 and beyond.
But I'm so excited about it because I've always just wanted to leave the sport of track and field better than I found it.
I think it's really important that the younger generation has something to look up to, something to aspire towards.
I didn't know that you can run professional track when I was in high school or when I was even in college.
I I didn't know where they went I was like the casual fan I was like oh I'll see you in four years I guess but no I want younger girls to be like no I can run professional track too like I have something to look forward to I can make money and I can do this and that's what Athlos is really about it's about inspiring the next generation and leaving the sport better so I think it'll be great we'll have a lot of visibility on it a lot more money in it and I think the athletes will be really excited to compete yeah and I also love that it shows each person's personality like the fact that there's a red carpet and you have your outfits and you kind of like I'm deathly I'm deathly deathly uh envious because I have always said this I'm like why can't swimmers do that too like yeah we're gonna get all wet and all our makeup's gonna come off but I just think that is what's missing in swimming a little bit is just showcasing these athletes amazing stories and I feel like that's why Athlos has caught fire because people want to be invested in the actual human in and not just like, oh, this is the time they ran.
Yes.
That's such a good point.
And I'm glad you said that too, because what we fail to realize in the track and field community is that people don't know times.
Like people don't care.
Like, I don't know.
Swimming's probably very similar, but you guys are geeking out over how fast this person ran by like a 10th of a second.
And like, you look to the person next to you, they have no idea what that means.
Yeah.
You're like, yeah.
Yeah.
So it's about storytelling.
Exactly.
It's about like people becoming fans of the athlete and telling a story and at least in track you know you know who wins because it's obvious so at least we have that kind of easy rule to follow people know who wins and who loses so it's just a matter of telling that story yeah and when Alexis Ohanian came to me about Atlas what drew him to it is because he saw us on social media and he saw like the track girls and he was like okay they have something here like they're they're expressing themselves on TikTok and Instagram and they're doing like fashion and makeup and it's fun to watch.
And so that's something that he saw value in and decided to invest in.
And I think there's a lot of momentum right now in women's track and field and we can definitely keep it going.
It's really cool to see.
I think the other thing that they should add is I was telling you like, oh, well, I run like 10 and a half at like Barry's.
Like I think they should do the translation of like, okay, so Gabby was at 19.5 people.
So that's relatability.
Like people know an orange theory in Barry's.
So they'd be like, oh, mind blown no that's hilarious and Alexis has talked about even um having just a regular person come have one lane open for them lane nine come race and then it puts things in perspective for everyone I think that'd be amazing you know what we should do we should do where like if the athlete's done competing for example like let's just say I competed at the Olympics first you know five events whatever and then track and field has happened like the Olympians should serve as the average Joes for each other like I'll be your runner you can be my swimmer oh my gosh because that was would you do it I mean I guess you could get like a true average Joe but like I think it would be cool to kind of like we're helping each other out that's that's a really good idea I think we might be onto something there I'll just do it as the retired athlete and just get smoked yeah swimming is rough like Leanne Marchand just broke the world record in the 200 IM like insane time and it was 152 and that probably means nothing to you yeah because people don't people don't swim yeah we don't know the times, but I do know what world record means.
Do you know what world record means?
That's the, yeah, you just got to break a world record to leave the impact that you want.
Exactly.
World record or Olympic gold.
I mean, yeah, exactly.
And we want to change the landscape of that because it's like, running and swimming are just such, everyone does it.
They're also life skills.
Right.
Like exactly.
Everyone does it.
Everyone has to do it.
So everyone can relate on some level to it.
So where do we just maintain that interest?
We just have to figure that out.
Yeah.
I mean, I think we'll take a page from you guys.
I always feel like even in the science and the training, like in the marketing, I think we're always just like a half a step behind track and field.
So it's, I've been very curious of how you guys have been doing it.
So it's, definitely you guys got it I do think we a lot of the track women we do force our way into the media a lot we do a lot of posting on social media a lot of expressing ourselves a lot of talking a lot of the makeup hair all that we're just love it constantly doing yeah so I think it helps you guys have heard us talk about dream recovery a hundred times and guess what you're gonna hear it a hundred more we cannot get enough of all the amazing things that dream recovery has to offer as you guys know Katie and I have so much travel coming up this summer.
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I have started taking both my sleep mask and my mouth strips on the plane with me.
I don't care if people look at me and think I'm crazy.
I will use both of those things.
I will get naps on the plane.
I will sleep on them if they're an overnight flight and then using them in the hotel is a total game changer.
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Sweet dreams.
Well, I want to chat a little bit more about your extracurriculars because I think, number one, your why for volunteering at the clinic, your why for getting your master's.
What sparked that and why is it so deeply important to you?
I think it's always been a really important to me.
Like I said, with track and field, just leave a place better than you found it.
And I want to have a really positive impact on the world.
I have always been very fortunate in healthcare and receiving healthcare.
I always had doctor's visits growing up.
I was a healthy child.
And when I started at Harvard and I started my neurobiology degree, I also took some sociology courses where I learned so much about health disparities, especially as it you in high school, things that they don't teach you in college unless you seek out those specific types of courses.
And I just remember being so touched and also disturbed by how different socioeconomic situations can have serious long-term effects on your health, and not just your health, but like your offspring's health.
And it had a difference, right?
I wanted things to be different.
So from then on, I took courses that I knew would set me up to get a master's in public health.
And I wanted to get my master's so that I can have a fundamental understanding of how can I make the healthcare space different?
How can I make it better?
And then the goal was to go and run my own hospital and just, you know, maybe run a nonprofit one day and make a difference.
But it's something that genuinely, like, I was passionate about myself.
I was...
As an athlete, I was very passionate about taking care of myself and making sure that I was healthy and the best version of myself.
And I felt like everyone needed to be afforded that opportunity.
Also very sensitive to different socioeconomic statuses just because of my upbringing as well and being a black woman and understanding the issues that came with that and seeing all the stats about black women as it pertains to their health and health care and the health care that they were receiving and the access to health care.
And so when I graduated, I moved to Austin, Texas, to get my master's in public health.
And I also found the volunteer health care clinic, which is actually right downtown.
And it gives health care to people who otherwise wouldn't have access to it, people who don't have health insurance, people who can't afford to go see doctors.
And it gives it to them for free.
And we are primarily volunteers, just a couple of people on staff, but volunteer doctor, volunteer nurses.
I was a nurse assistant.
And we provided educational resources Actual health care, so you can come and see a doctor, get a lab done, get imaging done, medication, whatever you needed.
And it makes a big difference in the community.
And what touched me a lot about it was, you know, working at the local level, you really see the impact on a day-to-day basis, right?
We see returning patients.
So a lot of the people we can actually develop a relationship with and get to know their stories on a holistic level.
So they're not just kind of numbers on a spreadsheet, right?
These are people, and we see their lives.
We see their situation.
We see if they don't have transportation, so it's hard for them to come pick up their medication or go to a doctor, right?
So we're bringing them their medication.
Or we see what their situation is with nutrition.
Do they have a kitchen?
Do they live in a food desert?
And so we can help work with them in that way.
And it makes a very big difference, right?
And I think that's kind of how health care should be rather than just this numbers game, right?
And looking at the bottom line, that's really heartbreaking.
And it's something that was just fulfilling, right?
You're really making a real difference in people's lives.
And I think that's really important.
So it's part of it, right?
It's part of the balance.
It's part of living a full life and doing things that really matter.
Yeah.
Do you have a specific person or story that really hit you hard?
Oh my gosh, yes.
I'll never forget.
So one of my sponsors is New Balance.
It's my primary sponsor.
Thank you so much.
tough time and getting divorced and as a result lost her health insurance and had fallen into, spiraled into depression, right?
Which is another form of healthcare that we help provide for the patients as well.
But she was struggling to just get out of bed every morning and to move.
And when she showed up that day and saw all the shoes and it was her kind of sign to get back into her health and to pour into herself more.
And she was so teary eyed telling me this, but she was just so inspired that people people at the clinic cared.
They cared enough about her.
They cared enough to do something and to think of them and something so small that can make such a big difference.
And of course, you know, we're still in contact and seeing the improvements on, you know, on her life every day is, I don't know, it's really rewarding, but it's also just, it reminds you how real all of this is.
Like she's not the only one who's going through that.
It's just one of so many examples how such a small thing can really make a difference in people's lives.
And if you're in a position to help people, then you do it.
It can always be you.
She had such a normal, healthy life with plenty of access to health care, and then you never know.
Just one day that can all change.
It can all change, and you can always be in that situation.
So just having that type of empathy and paying it forward when you can Yeah, it was a really, it was a good lesson for me that day, for sure.
Yeah, I asked that because we do a mission trip every year to Mexico and we build a house for a family.
And I always feel like you gain such perspective.
So it allows not only to help someone else in need, but just helps you understand gratitude.
Like you're sitting there like, I'm getting stressed about this little thing, you know, and it just really centers you.
And I truly believe, I mean, if it's just once a year, fine.
if it's once a month if it's once a week whatever I think everyone should do that type of thing especially athletes because you get so in your tunnel vision oh my gosh I was gonna say yeah like you you kind of at times have to be a little selfish right you're focused on your health and your strength and and I think it it pulls you out a little bit from your bootstraps and it's like hello oh my gosh I am so glad you said that because I yeah no that's how I feel like I feel like I get so wrapped up in my career and performance and you're right you do get really selfish like everything becomes about how you're feeling and your body and making sure that you're prioritizing yourself and you miss out on so many things and yeah it's having that moment that perspective to step back and like look at the world for what it is and you have those moments of gratitude yeah yeah yeah no I really resonate with that yeah that's why I feel like it's been so integral in my career is having those moments and being a part of the clinic it makes total sense yeah yeah we'll move into our we'll call it our power play section so just some some more fun short questions questions to get to know you a little bit better.
So who is more of a softie for Rico, your adorable dog, you or Spencer?
Me for sure.
He is a disciplinary.
I mean, he's a TikTok star, let's be honest.
Your go-to pizza order and are you a food sharer?
Go-to pizza order is definitely double pepperoni and I love hot honey.
I love thin crust and double cut.
And no, I'm not a food sharer, but my fiance is.
Oh, interesting.
That's tough.
It is tough.
Todd and I are both like, absolutely not.
Don't touch my food.
Oh, really?
Okay.
Perfect.
I mean, it's your food.
You ordered this.
Yeah.
There is times where I'm like, I just want one fry.
And he'll be like, I'll get you your own plate of fries.
And I'm like, but I just want one.
So that would be a waste of food.
That would be a waste of food.
Okay.
You talk about saying I will be an Olympic champ like 500 times before you raced and did it what is your saying now what a good question I think my saying now I would say chop wood, carry water.
And it's another thing that I learned from my college coach.
And it means that you keep doing the things that got you success even after you had the success, right?
So it's maintaining those same habits that got me to where I am today and being consistent, even when I'm not feeling motivated and just keep plugging away.
Yep.
What do you do in those moments?
I think sometimes people look at professional athletes, Olympians, and they're like, well, they're lucky.
They just, they just...
You must always want to do it, right?
But the alarm goes off and you're like, dear God, no.
I know, right?
Oh my gosh.
I was like driving to my PT the other day in traffic and I was just like, oh my God.
You're like, do I got, yeah, right.
I could just turn around.
You know, it's like we were talking about.
I think it's perspective and maintaining gratitude, right?
Like running is sometimes I just really don't want to, but running is a privilege and I'm so blessed and grateful that I'm able to
and
I love my job.
And just like people don't feel like getting up at 6 a.m.
in the morning and going to their job, I go to mine.
And it's for a greater purpose.
Yeah.
Love that.
Okay.
The baton handoff.
Okay.
So in swimming, when we do relay, it seems way easier than what you guys do.
Way easier.
But we still have to obviously time it up and make sure that our toes don't leave before the hand touches.
And we only get to practice with a relay teammate once, maybe twice a year.
year you get it yeah yeah so I'm looking at that is that the same for you guys and how in the world I would be stressed out of my mind like it's oh my god it's so complicated it doesn't have to be that complicated but it really is because it seems very complicated I think a big misconception in track and field too is that we all train together and that we all know each other no like and people live all around the country and they have different training groups and we come together for this one meet and try to make it really happen so I just want to clear that up a lot of especially with the men's relay I know there are issues but these people don't train together so thank you yes thank you for clarifying that because that is always people in the comments i'm like once again give them a little slack yeah and then you have to you practice with the relay order that you think will happen but obviously people have their individual events and things change people are healthy people aren't running fast and you're trying to put put together a relay that will be the best you know the best chance at winning a gold medal and when you switch orders around things get things get tough yeah we only get a couple of opportunities each year to practice together right we can train together at olympic training camp or world championships training camp which is right before the meet
yeah
but you don't want to interrupt your individual training for a relay and you don't want to be doing relay starts back to back to back because then you're risking injury and you're risking performance decline so you have a very small window of time to get these relay handoffs together yeah and pair that with nerves and excitement and pressure and then you get someone who leaves maybe you know one tenth of a second to early and the whole thing's over so a lot goes into it I think the women we've done a good job of kind of making it work and just trusting each other and figuring it out even if we don't have a lot of practice together but I think that comes you know to the coaching it's a testament to the culture that we have as a women's relay program yeah okay well that's exactly what I thought like every time I watch I'm like how are they doing this with like and especially you said like you're in practice you spend like oh hey this is the relay team we have 10 minutes we're gonna come over you know like that's actually what's happening literally not like you have two hours a day to train with exactly and even if we did it's not like we can do that many reps right you can only do so many reps when you're running because then you're just you're gonna hurt yourself yeah so yeah yeah like three reps in one day yeah um okay this came up actually with bobby fink we were talking so in swimming it sucks so much you you could you wouldn't go in olympic gold medal and then they're like okay go warm down for 40 minutes yeah is that yeah let's just do you guys have to do that you yeah i mean technically yeah we have to cool down okay but after my olympic medal i did not cool down well but yes yeah no we definitely cool down i mean i wouldn't say it's like 40 minutes i'd say a 20 minute cool down so you're just walking or like what we're like running so you kind of like you start you know running and then you get slower slower slower okay cool it down stretching dynamic stretching okay so you still have to do it okay no i feel you feel a little bit better people don't how often how long is your warm-up um our warm-up i would say rain like for a sprinter it's probably like 20, probably like 30 minutes.
Okay.
I was like 45 as like a mid distance.
That's nice.
Um, and then yeah, warm down.
We would test our lactic acid.
So it could be like, you'd go 20 minutes, they'd prick your ear and then be like, Oh, you're still not down yet.
And then you'd like, I'd have painful races and I'd be in there for an hour.
Wait, that's so smart though.
That note testing your, that's really smart.
Yeah.
I, I imagine that we'd have a lot less injuries in track and field if we actually took the cool down that seriously.
That's so interesting.
I really think we would.
I think we should do that.
Yeah.
I mean, I think, think about over the course of, you know, four or five day competition, like you're getting more and more beat up.
And so, and then like the, always like the rebel thing to do, like the last night you'd be like, I'm not warming down.
Yeah.
After the last night.
But then like you feel terrible the next day.
You're like, well, yeah.
Very interesting.
Okay.
So you've mastered the Dougie.
I would say.
That's really kind of you.
Yeah.
I would say.
I mean, I have no leg to stand on.
What dance is next?
Have you seen air walking on TikTok?
It's air walking.
If you haven't seen it, look it up.
Okay.
That's next.
Okay.
Yep, look it up after this.
I'm imagining like Michael Jackson, like the walking back.
Yep, walking forward.
Walking forward.
Yep.
Is it, okay, interesting.
Is it like you're running?
No, you're walking.
It looks like you're floating on air.
Okay, I'll look it up after this.
It's so cool.
Yeah.
Oh, man, I feel like, yeah.
That's next.
Okay, two-part question.
You were the Grand Marshal at the New York City Marathon.
Yes.
So cool.
How much money would it take for you to run one?
Nope.
No amount of money.
Nope, nope, nope.
$1 billion.
Okay, yeah, you're right.
Everyone has a price.
I'd probably do it for half a million.
Okay.
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah, I'd do it for half a million.
Yeah, because you could walk it.
Yeah.
And then same thing, how much money, and I will give you my answer first here, how much money to be tackled by Ilona Marr And I would say zero on my end.
Zero dollars.
Just so epic.
Although I'm a retired athlete, so I can get hurt.
You can.
We can probably make that happen.
Let's see.
Okay.
As a competing athlete, I probably, honestly, you're right.
That'd be kind of sick.
Probably somewhere around there.
My fiance plays rugby and he loves to like fake tackle me.
So I feel like I know what to expect.
What's a fake tackle?
Like he's just like, yeah, just tackle me lightly.
Lightly.
Just like take me down.
But not in a way that injures me.
Gently.
I just think that.
No, 10 bucks.
10 bucks?
10 bucks, yeah.
Okay, nice.
Next time I see you, Ilona.
Okay.
Tackle us both.
There's$10 in it for you.
We'll give it to her.
What is your weirdest algorithm on your socials?
Ooh, good question.
What is on my algorithm?
Ooh, I don't know.
Wait, give me, what's yours?
I'll tell you mine.
So I have, it's so weird.
It's like, there's like these, these like balls with like balls within them and you squeeze them and they all pop out.
And it's like very like.
Okay, that's, that's great.
Crazy.
That's really funny.
Before that, I think that like they coincided.
That's why it led me to this place.
And my friend makes fun of me.
It's like, it's like you're in the ocean and it's like this device, like scraping off the barnacles Okay.
Of like whales and stuff.
Okay.
It's so satisfying.
Is it like AI?
Yeah, it's AI.
I think for the most part, like it'll be like a little seal and then they get them all clean and like so weird.
But I think that's how, I think it's like a texture like satisfaction thing for me.
I've seen those and I'm glad you shared yours.
Yeah.
I definitely know what mine is.
Have you seen the, it's like the kitchen food items and they're like singing and telling you what not to do.
No.
so weird okay if you knew it another thing to look up it is it's like your items in your fridge and it'll be like them telling you how to store them but they're singing and it's AI and it's really cute okay but it teaches you a lot about how to store things like don't put your apples next to you know your oranges it's like educational because yeah it's educational yes don't put your like raw chicken on the top of it's and there's that's so funny it's really it's really good okay I'll have to I'll have to check that one out I love AI TikToks all right last question um a person in the last year that you've been starstruck by that's oh that's so hard oh my gosh that's such a hard question I feel like I've been starstruck like constantly ever since the Olympics oh gosh probably probably Rihanna who's Zendaya Zendaya that's so funny that you said that because have you seen the clip and then I'm gonna I won't one more, but like the clip I have, I had this written down.
So she's interviewed.
You give up such Zendaya, like all triple threat vibes.
Yeah.
So the interviewer is just like, it catches off guard.
And she's like, I just wonder when you wake up in the morning and you look in the mirror, how much you have to fight the urge to say, wow, these other women aren't even close.
Like can't keep it together.
She's laughing.
So I thought about opening the interview like that with you, but maybe not.
That's hilarious.
I'll send you the clip.
And then they would play like badass music after it.
It's like very inspirational and hype.
No, I'm obsessed with Zendaya.
I am.
So you got to meet her.
No, I didn't even meet her.
I was just at the Met and I was around her and I just couldn't, I was scared.
Everyone else I was like, okay, like, hi, like, you know, I spoke to, but like Zendaya, I was just like, and she's so tall and I'm tall and I'm not used to people being taller than me.
And I was just like, okay.
Yeah.
Oh my gosh.
But Rihanna, I did meet, I was starstruck and she watched track at the Olympics.
So I was like, so she was probably starstruck by you.
She was just proud.
And I was like, Oh, thank you.
And she smelled so good.
Just like a really warm, like vanilla.
It was just really, yeah.
She, she smells really good.
So yeah.
That was great.
Yeah, I do.
I love that for me.
That's amazing.
What, um, of all those, like you just like being on the Cover Vogue, Met Gala, SI.
Can you pick out a favorite moment in all of those?
My favorite moment was definitely ESPYs.
It was my first ESPYs this last year.
Normally can't go because it is right in the season, but I went and it just felt really special.
Being around so many athletes and such an appreciation for sport and I feel like it was one big family because everyone gets it.
Everyone understands what it's like to be an athlete, what it's like to be recognized for all the hard work and for it to be celebrated and to celebrate like people's work outside of sports too yeah it just i i felt like it was my people and i had so much fun um yeah and i felt i don't know so comfortable like yeah that's you know our space so that was probably my favorite i imagine it would be hard to be you know si swimsuit or met gala it's like all these people that they get it but they don't get you yeah as on the athlete level you know it's kind of like a sisterhood and yeah exactly I mean were you intimidated doing the Vogue shoot or anything like that the Vogue shoot no I was just excited and they did a great job of making me feel comfortable yeah making me feel like a model even though I wasn't but they were like you know they were hyping me up a little bit the Met Gala was very intimidating yeah I'll say that that was that was a lot I'm also like naturally introverted so I was just like so much talking but it was really cool yeah I would do it again but yeah definitely you know outside of my comfort zone but yeah you know that's okay yeah so fun yeah um okay final three questions what is a moment outside the sport of track and field that's brought you the most amount of joy oh a great question outside of track and field in the last year just like ever ever like ever um Let's see, I mean, There's so many, like there's so many going through my head right now.
I mean, I did get engaged in this last year and that was an amazing moment.
Like that's, oh, I'm so excited.
And we're planning our wedding now.
So it's been so much fun.
Do you have a date?
We're thinking, yeah, October 30th of 2026.
So yeah, after track season and everything, because you know how it is planning your life around.
Oh yeah, our entire wedding was around my same schedule.
Exactly, exactly.
So yeah, we're really excited.
So exciting.
I mean, the pictures, the video, it looked insane.
thank you yeah thank you okay same question but a moment or memory I think I know the answer to this inside the sport of track inside the sport okay I'm not gonna go with the Olympic gold because I feel like that's just too it's too easy I would say oh okay no there's two there's two and it's hard to say probably you know my first Olympic medal which was Tokyo it was a bronze and that's my baby I I love that medal so much um and I know a lot of people thought it was like a failure that I didn't get gold but for me it felt like such a win and I don't know I try treasure that moment forever it was my first Olympic medal and I just bronze is my first Olympic medal too just yeah I love it I love that medal um and then other than that probably my NCAA championship in college because it just changed the entire trajectory of my life yeah I just never saw myself as a professional track runner until that moment and here I am here you are yeah that's cool all right last question what is a word that motivates you or inspires you or just serves as a reminder of who you want to be great question Do you have one?
It changes.
So it used to be enough.
Now it is, last year it was trust.
I feel like right now it's still enough.
I love that.
Yeah.
Mine would be gratitude, as we were talking about earlier.
Yeah.
With everything that goes on after having success in sport, you know, it can be...
So challenging, but it's having that perspective and being grateful to be able to do what we do.
Yeah.
It's gratitude.
Yeah.
That's incredible.
I love that one.
Oh, well, Gabby, thank you.
Thank you.
This was so much fun.
This is great.
I feel like I'm going to get to see more of you.
Selfishly, I'm happy about that.
I was going to even ask you, like, what are you, you have this free time now.
Like, what are you going to, what are you going to do?
Wedding planning.
We're going to do some events and do things that I wouldn't have been able to do.
Go on vacation.
Yeah.
Probably, you know, do some appearances for partners and sponsors now that I have some time.
You have some actual time.
Yeah, I have time for you guys.
Yeah.
And then rehabbing.
Yeah.
A lot of rehabbing.
But I have a lot of time to make up, you know, with family and friends.
I'll definitely go visit my mom.
I'll go book a couple of girls trips.
And, yeah.
Yeah.
It's kind of your true love relationships.
Well, you deserve it.
Thank you.
And I'm wishing a speedy recovery.
Thank you.
And just grateful to get to speak with you today.
No, me too.
Thanks for having me.