Gabby Thomas is sick and tired of the doping problem in track and field. The American sprinter calls for harsher punishments, including lifetime bans.
She wants anybody and everybody who allows this behavior to tarnish the sport to be eradicated.
Her forceful plea comes right in the middle of multiple track and field scandals. Unfortunately, if history serves as any indication, it will likely fall on deaf ears.
Track and field has a doping problem.
To pretend that every elite runner in the sport is clean would be ignorant. In fact, depending on who you ask, it might actually be better to approach the conversation from the other direction.
Which athletes are not doping?
Controversial track and field whistleblower Rae Edwards claims there are more athletes who use PEDs than those who do not. He also put Marvin Bracy-Williams on blast for the alleged use of an illegal substance, which subsequently led to his mysterious disappearance from competition in 2023.
The controversy does not stop there.
American marathon runner Emily Sisson questioned the integrity of the sport after world record holder Ruth Chepngetich tested positive for a banned substance and was subsequently suspended last month. Fred Kerley is currently serving a provisional suspension that was announced last week because the American sprinter missed three out-of-competition drug tests within a 12-month period.
His teammates are now forced to defend themselves as clean athletes because their coach also comes from a controversial past. Dennis Mitchell was linked to doping scandals on a few different occasions.
And then it was announced on Tuesday that India’s 1,500-meter champion, Parvej Khan, received a six-year ban for multiple whereabout failures and a positive test for an illegal substance.
Gabby Thomas is over it.
Thomas won three gold medals in Paris last summer. She recently revealed how the athletes are constantly tracked by an app for random drug tests— even while out with friends.
We obviously cannot say with 100% certainty but the American sprinter is, by all accounts, a clean athlete. I find it hard to believe that she would fight so hard against doping if she was doping herself.
Gabby Thomas wants to get to the root the of the problem and punish dopers accordingly.
“Doping coaches should be banned for life from coaching in the sport,” she wrote on Instagram. “Whether you were banned while competing as an athlete or caught distributing as a coach (for some, both). I don’t care, I don’t care, I don’t care. If you train under a coach who is known for doping (once, twice, or even three times for some) you are complicit. That’s my stance.”
Her ultimate goal is very simple.
“When I graduated from college, I came into this sport sooo naive,” Thomas continued “After six years, I just want better for athletes. We deserve it. My goal is to leave this sport better than I found it.”
It seems to me like Thomas’ comments are directed at athletes like Sha’Carri Richardson and Twanisha Terry. They both train with Mitchell.
However, I do not think she intended to target any one person in specific. Track and field, as a whole, needs to be and do better.