Olympic sprinter Gabby Thomas wins gold in the 200-meter race: What to know about her healthy routine

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Olympic sprinter Gabby Thomas wins gold in the 200-meter race: What to know about her healthy routine

Gabby Thomas is one of the fastest people at the

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and in the world. The U.S. runner won a gold medal in the women’s 200-meter race final on Tuesday, Aug. 6.

“You prepare for this moment and train so hard for this moment, but when it actually comes, it’s indescribable,”

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after her decisive victory. It took her just 21.83 seconds to cover the distance and finish in first place.

She calls sprinting her “happy place.”

“I feel so happy running when I see the finish line in my sights, I just have that boost that I know I can get there, stretch my legs out and go,” Thomas told NBC after posting the

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in the 200-meter semifinals on Aug. 5.

The 27-year-old athlete previously competed in the Tokyo Olympic Games, winning a bronze medal in the women’s 200-meter and silver in the women’s 4×100 meter relay.

Thomas is also impressive off the track. She holds a bachelor’s degree in neurobiology from Harvard University and a master’s degree in public health from the University of Texas Health Science Center.

After training three-to-six hours a day, Thomas

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in Austin, Texas, for people who don’t have health insurance. She leads a hypertension program there and told NBC News she ultimately dreams of running a hospital or a nonprofit to expand access to healthcare.

Here’s what to know about the track and field star, and her health:

She calms herself down before running:

While other runners might turn to high-tempo music for a boost of energy before they compete, Thomas doesn’t listen to her “pump-up playlist” at all before her race.

“I want to be so Zen, I want to be so relaxed, and I want to preserve my energy,” she

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.

“And then the split second when the **** goes off, that’s when I want to feel that pump-up energy.”

To avoid being distracted by her competitors or the crowd, she picks a point on the track and just concentrates on sprinting toward it. “You need to have a focus when you’re in that moment,” she says.

She loves the rush of running

Thomas is considered a late bloomer to the sport. She initially played softball and soccer as a teen, and ran in high school, but it wasn’t until her time at Harvard that she started becoming a standout athlete in track.

“It’s really easy to fall in love with running,” Thomas

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. “It can be painful at times, but it’s such a beautiful sport. You set goals and go after them in the purest form — and when you achieve those goals, it’s such an addicting feeling.”

She prioritizes sleep

“As you mature as an athlete, you realize just how important sleep is,” Thomas

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. “Not just to be an elite athlete, but just to be a functional human.”

She now gets at least

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.

Sufficient sleep is important for peak athletic performance, the International Olympic Committee noted in a

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addressing mental health in elite athletes.

All healthy adults — whether they’re competing in the Olympics or not — need to sleep at least

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for optimal health,

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advises.

She takes care of her mental health

The athlete makes time for recovery and rest, and follows her passions other than running.

“The way I became successful in track and field was basically running track part time, and I think for me, that’s really important for my mental health,” Thomas

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. “Just having other things in my life that help fulfill my goals and make me feel fulfilled.”

That includes volunteering at the Austin clinic, where she likes knowing she’s making a difference in people’s lives.

Thomas also spends time with her dog, a pug named Rico. The athlete says she gets a lot of emotional support from her furry companion.

When things “aren’t going super well, it’s easy to feel like I’m a ********. Instead of sitting in that, I got a friend. Adopting Rico is the best thing I ever did,” Thomas told

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.

She enjoys low-impact exercise

The sprinter makes room for Pilates in her routine, embracing the way her body shakes during the intense core workout. She describes it as “really hard,” but also relaxing.

“Pilates is humbling,” Thomas told

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. “As an Olympian in that room, not being able to do a lot of the exercises that they’re doing, you really realize how many small muscles that you don’t activate every day.”

Pilates can be done on a mat or on a reformer machine. When TODAY’s Craig Melvin

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, he called it “perhaps the most intense exercise” he’d ever done.

Gabby Thomas height

The sprinter is 5 feet, 10 inches tall, according to her

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.

How many siblings does Gabby Thomas have?

She has a twin brother, Andrew, and three younger siblings — Desi, Tyler and Kim, according to her Olympic profile.

Peacock is streaming the Paris Olympics around the clock.

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. TODAY earns a commission on purchases. Peacock is owned by our parent company NBCUniversal.

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#Olympic #sprinter #Gabby #Thomas #wins #gold #200meter #race #healthy #routine

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