If you spent any time tuned into the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, you’re likely already familiar with the name Gabby Thomas. The young athlete has been turning heads for a few years now but truly established herself as a force to be reckoned with in the world of athletics by scoring a whopping three gold medals in the sprint and relay categories. Like some of her U.S. Olympic teammates, Thomas serves as the subject of the newly-released Netflix docu-series Sprint: The World’s Fastest Human’s Part 2. The series, which premiered on the streamer on Nov. 13, showcases a few of the most prolific athletes currently competing for the title of fastest human being of all time as they outline their painstaking training regiment ahead of their Olympic performances.
Given that Gabby Thomas is currently such a hot topic in the pop culture zeitgeist, now seems like as good a time as any to take a look at her career history, revenue streams and overall net worth to see what we can learn about her promising future as an athlete and beyond. For the time being, it looks like Thomas is on track to make millions, through ventures such as her thriving sprinting career, her brand and endorsement partnerships, speaking engagements, modeling contracts and much more.
Gabby Thomas’ Early Life And Inspirations
Long before Thomas was sweeping the competition in track and field, she was born to a humble Atlanta, Georgia family. Despite their lack of financial wealth, the 27-year-old was blessed to be raised by a strong and resilient mother, who worked tirelessly to earn her PhD before moving the family to Massachusetts for a lucrative teaching position. While growing up in Western Mass, Thomas attended Williston Northampton School, where she quickly took an interest in several sports. Though she showed early promise in soccer, softball and other ventures, she was mostly inspired to run track and field after seeing a broadcast of seven-time Olympic gold medalist Allyson Felix on TV. Ironically, Thomas would go on to compete against Felix shortly before the latter athlete announced her retirement.
While sitting down with The Running Effect, Gabby Thomas elucidated on the inspiration she felt from the older competitor, stating “I did not know who she was at the time… she looked excellent and was crushing it and was this really empowering female athlete. It’s something that goes in your subconscious like ‘Now I see someone who is a female athlete who is very powerful and succeeding,’ and you kind of internalize that.” In the same interview, Thomas explained the full-circle moment she experienced when she finally met her hero on the track. “When I started racing against her, that was a surreal moment because it brought me back to that moment from years ago when I was watching her on TV. Someone might be turning on their TV and watching me running… that was a very surreal moment for me.”
Career Beginnings And First Olympic Appearance
After setting multiple school records at Williston Northampton and achieving high honors as their most valuable player, Gabby Thomas followed in her mother’s learned footsteps by attending the prestigious Harvard University. There, she studied neurobiology and global health while continuing to push her sprinting abilities to the limit. By the time she completed her undergraduate program, Thomas had racked up 22 conference titles and set Ivy League records in the 60-meter, 100-meter and 200-meter dash. Once she graduated, the Atlanta native continued to pursue her education by getting a Master’s degree in epidemiology from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
Thomas officially began her career as a professional athlete while attending the University of Texas by signing an endorsement deal with New Balance in 2018. During this time, she sought coaching from former Olympian Tonja Buford-Bailey, who pushed her to submit to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. After she made the team, Thomas managed to secure massive success on competition day with a 200-meter time of just 21.61 seconds. She concluded her Tokyo performance by bringing home a bronze medal for her solo race and a silver medal alongside her teammates, making her one of the most celebrated up-and-comers of the year.
Gabby Thomas’ 2024 Paris Games Performance
After finding so much success durng the 2020 Olympics, Gabby Thomas set her sights on the gold. In an interview with the Washington Post, she specifically stated, “It definitely changed how I view myself as a runner. I am still in shock… my dream was to make the Olympic team… Now that I’ve accomplished [that], I’m going to set higher goals.” She continued training and beating her own personal best time until finally qualifying for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. There, she astounded audiences all over the world with her athleticism, taking home the gold in the 200-meter race with a top time of 21.83 seconds. She also won gold medals in both the 4 x 100-meter relay and the 4 x 400-meter relay.
Thomas’ success in the 2024 Games has resulted in her ranking third on the global list of female sprinters in the 200-meter category. This is one of the key points outlined in her segments of Sprint: The World’s Fastest Human’s Part 2. Needless to say, the multiple gold medal wins, plus all the publicity wrought from Gabby’s performance have led to a massive impact on her net worth. Insiders suggest that Thomas is on pace to make $37,500 per gold medal win, with additional bonuses at unknown sums. The World Athletics has also announced a prize of $50,000 for the rising star runner, meaning 2024 has been one of the most financially lucrative years of her life.
Exploring Endorsements And Additional Financial Success
Though it seems that there’s nowhere left to go for an athlete as accomplished as Gabby Thomas, the young sprinter still has plenty of money to make. Now that she’s a three-time Olympic gold medalist, her salary for speaking engagements, endorsement deals and more has risen significantly, allowing her to profit from her image and likeness substantially while training for future track endeavors. Recently Thomas turned heads by partnering with Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian to develop the 776 Invitational, which offers high-paying incentives for female runners. The groundbreaking event touts prize payouts of $60,000, $25,000 and $10,000 for first, second and third-place runners, respectively.
In addition to her many successes on the track, Thomas has also raked in tens of thousands while working with a wide array of brands. As mentioned above, her first-ever brand partnership came in the form of a 2018 deal with New Balance. Since then, Thomas has picked up contracts with HOTSHOT, Lenovo, Whoop, Modern Luxury and even the medical company Eli Lilly. Though many of her collaborations see Thomas serving as the face of a clothing or athletics brand, her Eli Lilly deal allows her to tap into her formal educational background, utilizing her Master’s degree in public health. As of this writing, Gabby Thomas is estimated to have a total net worth of between $1 million and $5 million, per Meaww. As she continues racking up on-the-track records and extracurricular success, we can estimate that the prolific runner will only continue to increase her total financial value.
