Olympic 200-meter champion Gabby Thomas wanted to walk away from athletics on several occasions, she said on Tuesday following her dominant victory in Paris.
The 27-year-old American, who captured bronze at the Tokyo Games and silver at last year's world championships, secured her first global title after beating 100-meter champion Julien Alfred, who took silver, and compatriot Brittany Brown in third. It was the first time since 1976 that there was no Jamaican on the podium in the Olympic women's 200-meter race.
"Running track in college, there were many times where I thought I would quit," Thomas told reporters. "When I went pro, growing pains of joining a professional training group are real, there are a lot of egos, I didn't think that I was going to be cut out for it.