Paris Olympics: Gabby Thomas cruises with ease to victory in 200

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PARIS — Gabby Thomas made a revealing comment earlier this summer when speaking about what it would be like to come to the Olympics as a gold-medal favorite.

Thomas, at 27 one of the leading women of American sprinting, said she can’t buckle under the weight of expectations if she hopes to be remembered as a legend of her sport.

“Great athletes are built under pressure,” Thomas said. If I want to be a great athlete, if I want to be amongst the names like Sanya, Allyson, Carmelita, Dawn, I have to compete under pressure and accept that’s part of it.”

The time to let her feet back up those words arrived at last on Tuesday night in front of another enthusiastic crowd at France’s largest stadium. Thomas emerged from the Stade de France tunnel just before the start of the Olympic 200 meters final, raising her arms in the air and smiling on the way to her starting block in lane 7.

One lane to Thomas’ right was St. Lucia’s Julien Alfred, the 100 meters champion who bested Sha’Carri Richardson and captured her Caribbean nation’s first-ever medal. One lane to Thomas’ left was fellow American Brittany Brown, who arrived in Paris in the form of her life and then cruised to victory in her Round 1 and semifinal heats. Those two figured to pose the biggest threat to Thomas after Tokyo Olympic champion Shericka Jackson withdrew due to injury.

But there was no challenge.

Thomas won Olympic gold easily, placing her hands on her head and smiling after crossing the finish line first in 21.83 seconds. Alfred settled for silver in 22.08 seconds. Brown finished third in 22.20 seconds.