Olympic gold medalist, Gabby Thomas, shares how her strategies and motivations for success on and off the track. She also discusses the importance of rest when training and competing.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Okay before I begin I was I was knee-deep in your bio and I'm thinking
00:04in my mind how in the world does she have time to do any level of sports? What
00:09book are you reading right now or is there something in the science world
00:11that you're very fascinated by in this moment?
00:14Oh in this moment? Gosh I mean I am rereading Atomic Habits right now if
00:19anyone has read that it is incredible book and it talks about like the
00:22psychology of forming habits and how you can improve your life by doing that it's
00:26incredible. How has your prep been for Paris like managing obviously everything
00:31that you do outside of the of your sport but also now really having it to immerse
00:34yourself in your training? Yeah I mean it's kind of the same like it's always
00:37been kind of head down in the trenches just focusing on what you need to focus
00:41on to get there there's so many distractions going on all the time and
00:45it's really easy to get distracted by everything but I'm just staying in it
00:49and loving what I do really taking in the process in the journey and
00:52everything will work out. Absolutely I think you're just such an example for
00:56young black girls who desire to one day maybe stand next to me and be an
01:00Olympian for you how does how do you wear that responsibility on your
01:04shoulders and how excited are you to be that example? I mean I think about it all
01:08the time every time I go in the public eye every time I step on the track I'm
01:12thinking about how I am representing myself and how I'm making an impact on
01:15the younger generations who are watching me and I want them to see that you can
01:19do everything that you want to do you can just if you can see it I mean you
01:23can do it and I don't think anything should stop them if you want to go to
01:28Harvard get your education and you also want to be an Olympian you can do that
01:31if you want to do anything. One moment now continue. You can do it all and just don't let
01:37anyone's limitations of themselves limit you especially the young black girls. So
01:42I asked you about books earlier and not to say this is a ritual of yours at all
01:45but do you have a ritual of something that you do before a competition?
01:48Absolutely I meditate a lot I wake up and I do two minutes in the morning and
01:52then I incorporate it into my warm-up too so it just keeps me focused keeps me
01:56Zen and it actually makes chemical changes in your brain and your neural
01:59pathways that help you with everything. Last question for you is there a
02:03particular skill set that you have that you're working on strengthening? Yeah I
02:08think taking more time for rest. Everybody continues to say that which
02:12makes me a little concerned but I get it. It's a common theme but first
02:17specifically in track and field I think my start I'm trying to get a much
02:19faster more explosive start. If anyone watches my races you see it takes me a
02:23minute to get up to speed and then I catch people but I want to get them just
02:27kind of out the gate and I think you know I could run really fast that way.
02:30Well I'm excited to see you thank you so much and all the best. Thank you.