In a summer of dominance for Team USA track and field, Gabby Thomas separated herself as the most decorated American runner at the Paris Olympics after another emphatic gold medal performance on Saturday.
She ran the third leg of the United States' assured 4x400m relay effort circling the Stade de France's purple track, contributing a technical lap after Sydney McLaughlin-Lavrone created leagues of separation, as Team USA won its eighth-consecutive gold medal in the event. Thomas' 4x400 triumph joins her previous victories in the 4x100 and the individual 200m competition, making her the only track athlete to win three gold medals this summer.
"You prepare for this moment and you train so hard for this moment and when it actually comes, it's indescribable, and I couldn't believe it," Thomas said about securing her first gold medal. "I never would have imagined in my wildest dreams that I would become an Olympic gold medalist, and I am one."
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Thomas faced a much more tenuous position in the 4x100 relay, handing the baton off to Sha'Carri Richardson for the final lap with the United States lingering in third place. However, the former LSU star turned in a tremendous 100m leg and ultimately bested the German silver medalists by .07 seconds.
"Obviously passing the baton to Sha'Carri is very special. She is so fast, you know we're in good hands when she gets her hand on the baton," Thomas said. "I felt very proud, and I was grateful to compete with these ladies, and we got the gold."
Thomas' 200m victory exacted revenge on behalf of Richardson, however, after she was stunned by Julian Alfred in the 100m event. The St. Lucian sprinter secured her nation's first-ever Olympic medal but was thoroughly outclassed by Thomas later in the week, falling to the American by nearly a second.
This spree of unmatched Olympic success for Thomas comes after a bitterly disappointing Tokyo Olympics, where her 4x100m squad fell to Jamaica after she earned bronze in the 200m. It continues a dominant stretch for American track and field as well, which ended Saturday with 14 golds and 34 overall medals — Kenya, with four golds and 10 medals, is the next closest nation.
America's hero in the 4x400, McLaughlin-Lavrone, secured her second medal of the summer on Saturday after another comically dominant showing in the 400m hurdles. The New Jersey native shattered her own world record for the sixth time in the competition and defeated her next closest competitor by more than a second — she would have also almost certainly medaled in the 400m event as well but was unable to compete due to schedule conflicts.
Other notable two-time American gold medalists at this summer's games include swimmer Torri Muske, who won the 100 m butterfly, 4x100m medley and 4x100m mixed medley, and star gymnast Simone Biles , who won the team, all-around and vault competitions.
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