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Three-time Olympic track gold medallist Gabby Thomas says she was verbally abused at a meet in Philadelphia last weekend, the latest incident of harassment the American has reported this year.
Thomas, who won gold in the 200 metres, as well as the 4x100m and 4x400m relays at the Paris Games, said in a post on X that a man followed her around at the Grand Slam Track meet while she took pictures for fans and signed autographs, shouting insults at her.
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“Anybody who enables him online is gross,” Thomas wrote.
Thomas’s post was in response to another on X that contained a video of a person heckling Thomas while she was on the starting line, shouting “you’re a choke artist — you’re going down, Gabby”.
“I made Gabby lose by heckling her. And it made my parlay win,” the social media user wrote, with a screenshot of two online multi-leg bets.
The track circuit said in a statement: “Grand Slam Track is conducting a full investigation into the reprehensible behaviour captured on video.
“We are working to identify the individual involved and will take appropriate action as necessary.
“We will implement additional safeguards to help prevent incidents like this in the future. Let us be clear, despicable behaviour like this will not be tolerated.”
Thomas finished third overall in the short sprints group for the Philadelphia meet, the third in the novel circuit’s inaugural season.
One of America’s brightest stars in track, the 28-year-old Thomas catapulted to mainstream fame after her breakout performance in Paris, gracing the cover of American Vogue magazine and appearing on US talk shows.
But Thomas has also suffered the darker side of fame, describing on TikTok this year how she was stalked by a group of men at several airports, as social media gives female athletes greater exposure.
ABC Sport Daily podcast
The incident at Grand Slam Track also reflected a growing link between sports betting and harassment, with female tennis players, including Caroline Garcia, pointing to “unhealthy betting” as a key culprit.
Major tennis governing bodies moved to combat online abuse and published a report last year that attributed nearly half of abusive social media posts to angry gamblers.
“Thank you for pointing out this disgusting behaviour,” retired former world 10,000m silver medallist Kara Goucher wrote on X.
“You are exposing the crap that women go through and will eventually help other women as well.”
Reuters
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