As the leaves begin to turn and the intensity of summer competition fades, three-time Olympic gold medalist Gabby Thomas has a chance to reset. For Thomas, it’s time to focus on a quality that is often overlooked in elite sport. “Self-compassion has been crucial throughout my athletic career,” Thomas tells Her Campus in an exclusive interview. “If I’m being too hard on myself, it can chip away at my confidence and affect my self-care routines.”
Known for her ferocious speed on the track and her rigorous academic career at Harvard, Thomas embodies a rare combination of grit and intellectual purpose. But the quiet strength of self-compassion has been just as crucial to her success as any physical training. “My own self-care is important, like how I speak to myself, getting rest, prioritizing mental health, but it’s also about how I show up for my community and the people around me,” she says. “Surrounding myself with people and routines that make me feel grounded is a big part of my self-care.”
When you think of an Olympic sprinter, the words “fierce” and “disciplined” come to mind. But Thomas argues that compassion — both for herself and others — is a foundational source of power, not a gentle detour from the path of success. Off the track, as a public health advocate, Thomas has a professional understanding of well-being on a macro level, which informs how she approaches her personal self-care.
Most recently, Thomas’s passion for equity in underserved communities is currently channeled through her partnership with Mrs. Meyer’s for their Lots of Compassion initiative, which transforms vacant lots into gardens for change. “This work is incredibly important and personal for me because my mom has always taught me to leave places better than you found them,” she says. But her advocacy doesn’t stop there. “Health and well-being are very important to me, and off the track, I carry that same spirit into my work at my local community health clinic,” she adds.
This professional perspective also gives Thomas a clear view of the public’s perception of athletes’ mental health. “One of the misconceptions that the public has about athletes is that we are superhumans who don’t experience doubt or get shaken up,” Thomas says. “Truthfully, we feel anxiety and burnout just like everyone else, but perhaps magnified due to the expectations [placed] on us.”
The pressure on elite athletes is immense, and Thomas is no stranger to it. She recalls a specific low point in 2022 when she was returning from a torn hamstring injury that interrupted her season. “I [was] worried about proving to myself and everyone else that I could come back feeling like myself, or stronger,” she says. “In this moment, I had to lean into self-compassion and uhh remind myself to not focus on what could go wrong, but to focus on how much had gone right.”
Her coping strategy wasn’t an intense workout or a motivational speech, but a gentle reminder that growth isn’t a sprint — it’s something you work towards. “I reminded myself how much work and resilience it took to get her back on the track and that real progress takes time,” she says. “I started practicing gratitude journaling and prioritizing rest — ultimately, these self-compassion tools are what helped lead me to winning three Olympic golds just two years later.”
Creating more compassion across sports culture is definitely important to me.
She also applies this same mindset to her personal and professional life, a habit she honed while balancing elite athletics and a rigorous academic path at Harvard. “Not only has compassion been key for me in my academic career, but also in my track career,” she explains. “It helps me reset after setbacks, and also makes me a better teammate.”
Thomas sees the growing open conversation about mental health as a welcome change. “I’m glad these conversations are happening now so that being open about mental health struggles is no longer stigmatized, but rather humanizing. Creating more compassion across sports culture is definitely important to me,” she says.
Ultimately, Thomas’s journey — from the track to Harvard and into public health advocacy — was shaped by an upbringing that prioritized balance. “Education was always just as much a priority, if not more, than athletics,” she says. “That way, I was able to see myself as more than just an athlete or more than just a student. When things got hard, I was able to maintain perspective that prioritized well-being over being perfect.”
And through her advocacy and example, Thomas is redefining what strength looks like — proving that compassion can be just as powerful as competition.”What’s powerful is that while nearly 90% of Americans say they want to support their communities, only about one in four actually take action,” she says. “To me, that gap is an opportunity—a chance to inspire young women by showing that even small, consistent acts of compassion can spark real change.”