Gabby Thomas won the 200 meters at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, erasing any doubts about the outcome early.
Thomas was expected to be tested early by Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred, but Thomas hit the straightaway in command.
Thomas’s time was 21.82 seconds, followed by Alfred (22.08) and fellow American Brittany Brown (22.20).
The result had appeared nearly inevitable. Thomas looked sharp in her previous two rounds, showing off her endurance on the straight. She joined Alfred, who was brimming with confidence after her 100-meter gold medal, as the only sprinter to dip under 22 seconds in the semifinal.
It didn’t take a Harvard grad, which Thomas is, to figure out that her prospects for victory brightened considerably when Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson, the reigning world champion in the 200, dropped out of the competition a few days ago.
Thomas, who won bronze in the 200 at the 2020 Tokyo Games, didn’t shrink from the role as the favorite at the Paris Games. She thrived.
