As she crossed the finish line in front of a bellowing 80,000-strong crowd, the new Paris 2024 women’s Olympic 200m champion’s expression encapsulated the entirety of a night filled with shocks, surprises and wow moments at the Stade de France.
“I’m really in disbelief because having an Olympic gold medal is something in my wildest dreams,” she said. “But at the same time, I know how hard I’ve fought for it.
“This has been six years in the making, head down, working hard, going to really hard meets, pushing yourself, and now it’s here and I’ve done it. This is the happiest moment of my life.”
Thomas had entered the Tuesday, 6 August final as the favourite, but that didn’t temper her outpouring of emotions as she crossed the finish line first in front of 100m gold medallist Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia (22.08) and Thomas’s fellow American Brittany Brown (22.20).
At Tokyo 2020, Thomas walked away with a bronze (200m) and silver (4x100m), but the gold of her dreams was elusive.
This night, though, would be different.
The 27-year-old burst out of the blocks, hurtling through the first 100m as she caught and overtook Alfred on the lane outside of her.
As she blazed down the finishing straight, Thomas built a commanding lead as her formidable top-end speed took her all the way through the finish line.
Thomas must have known she was favoured heading into the race. But those tags mean nothing when the pressure builds and seven other world-class sprinters are all putting their heart and soul into winning gold.
However, the sight of familiar faces in the crowd gave the now three-time Olympic medallist the boost she needed to fight her way to the top of the podium.
This gold meant everything.
