Mike Tyson once said, “When you are favored by the gods, you are favored by the devils as well.” The words of the legendary boxer fit perfectly with Gabby Thomas’s reality. Her brilliance on the track has earned her fame, admiration, and the spotlight, but also some unwelcome attention. The three-time Olympic gold medalist recently opened up about the terrifying experience of being stalked by groups of men at airports, a chilling downside to her success.

“I fear I’m being stalked, and I genuinely don’t know what to do or who to go to,” said Gabby Thomas on her TikTok, asking for help from her followers after a group of men didn’t leave her alone despite her multiple travels. So, what actually happened?

As per Thomas, a group of three to six middle-aged men was showing up at the airports across the country, be it Chicago or Miami. They were there, waiting for her to arrive. This was a terrifying experience for her.

Recounting her ordeal, Thomas, in her conversation with ‘The Squeeze,’ stated, “I didn’t understand how they had my information. It happened a couple of times—actually, a number of times—before I ended up posting about it. I was genuinely scared. I was flying home from Chicago, and I remember I had actually changed my flight the evening prior, and they were at the airport. I was thinking, “OK, well, this must be a coincidence.” I don’t even know how I rationalized that in my head the first time.”

She further added, “I signed a couple of them, but when I stopped signing because I had a flight to catch, they got mad. Then it happened again in the same airport. I didn’t sign anything, and they were very hostile and mad. What was really strange about that instance, too—yeah, they had bought dummy tickets. They bought dummy plane tickets so they could follow us into the boarding area.”

Gabby Thomas further explained that it would have been one thing if the incidents had only occurred in Chicago. But it happened in Miami as well. They had tickets and were waiting for her at the gate. At that moment, she wondered if they were capable of figuring out when and where she was flying next, even on short notice, what else might they be able to figure out!

And well, this incident didn’t just happen with Gabby Thomas.

Commenting on her TikTok post, Ilona Maher also shared similar experiences. Likewise, Simone Biles reached out to her for support. And for Gabby, there’ve been other unfortunate and scary cases, too.

Gabby Thomas was visibly heckled by a gambler after the airport incident

Back in June, when Gabby Thomas was in Philadelphia at the Grand Slam Track, she was heckled by a hostile man. He kept on abusing her despite her ignorance. Taking to her X handle, she posted, “Honestly, the heckling is tolerable, it’s following me around the stadium that’s wild.” She further added, “Anyone who supports him online is disgusting.”

A man shared a video showing himself heckling her at the 100m starting line. The man, who regularly uploads sports betting content on YouTube, claimed that his actions contributed to his winnings. He even shared screenshots of his successful bets after backing Jefferson-Wooden. “I caused Gabby to lose by heckling her, and it helped my parlay hit,” he wrote.

In another statement, ‘The Athletic’ quoted that the event organizers are investigating the entire situation. “We are working to identify the individual involved and will take appropriate action as necessary. We will implement additional safeguards to help prevent incidents like this in the future. Let us be clear, despicable behavior like this will not be tolerated.” 

The culprit might not be able to attend the event for now, but his actions have caused an uproar in the community, highlighting that women athletes, TOO, are not safe.