Gabby Thomas talks on non-fancy side of sports: 'Most successful athletes have the most boring life'

Sha'Carri Richardson, Gabby Thomas, and Shericka Jackson after the women's 200m final at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest

Gabby Thomas talks on non-fancy side of sports: 'Most successful athletes have the most boring life'

Funmilayo Fameso 15:29 - 19.01.2025

Triple Olympic gold medallist discussed the recipe for athletes success centered on having a boring life.

In the sporting world, athletes are often subjected to non-fancy lives behind the scenes, more than the excitement and glory of what the public sees, as elaborated by American track queen Gabby Thomas.

The five-time Olympic medallist opened up on this topic as a guest on The Running Effect podcast, where she disclosed the recipe for success of an average athlete.

Gabby Thomas is a respected track athlete and two-time Olympian

"The most successful athlete is probably the one who has the most boring life. The athlete who's running around like doing fun promos and doing flashy workouts and all that, I mean that's not the recipe to success," said the two-time Olympian.

Thomas also took cue from Paris Olympics 100m champion Noah Lyles, saying that despite his flashy public stunts, he has a boring life behind the scenes.

American sprint legend Michael Johnson
Noah Lyles is the reigning world's fastest man as the World and Olympic champion

"Look at like Noah Lyles, I mean he's someone who just keeps his head down and works really hard. You see his flashy moments but he has way more boring moments than you can imagine because that's part of it," she concluded.

The triple Olympic gold medallist in Paris is one of the most respected names in track and field, as she has found a way to effectively combine her sports career with professional life as a medical personnel.

A graduate of the prestigious Harvard University in 2019 with a degree in neurobiology and global health, and also earned a master’s degree in epidemiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, Thomas is one of the busiest and most successful sportswomen any upcoming athlete can look up to as a role model.

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