A rollercoaster—that’s the perfect way to sum up Gabby Thomas’s 2025 season. The Paris Olympic standout started strong, dazzling fans with a stellar performance of 22.62 seconds in 200m at the Kingston Grand Slam. Expectations soared, but fate had other plans. An untimely Achilles injury forced her to withdraw ahead of the Tokyo Championships, even stepping away from the Diamond League finale to focus on recovery.

Speaking on the setback, she admitted, “Truthfully, I haven’t been able to train too much, which is kind of tough because I’m dealing with an Achilles issue.” With Thomas sidelined, the spotlight shifts to her teammate, Brittany Brown, who now has a real shot at touching Allyson Felix’s record of winning back-to-back 200m Diamond League titles.

The 11-time Olympic medalist pulled off an extraordinary feat in 2014 and 2015 in the 200m category, winning the Diamond League Final in consecutive years. Interestingly, if Brown wins this year’s Diamond League event in 200m, she has a massive opportunity to join her compatriot Allyson Felix in the record list.

Last year, Brittany Brown won the 200m Diamond League final in Brussels by clocking a time of 22.20s. Now, she has the opportunity to do the same, as her performance at the Lausanne set her up for the Zurich Finale. She clocked in 22.23, just .05 off her season’s best time despite wet and rainy conditions. Brown has the opportunity to be among the likes of Felix, Shaunae Miller-Uibo, and Shericka Jackson to win two back-to-back Diamond League finales.

When asked about her performance, she expressed that she is content with it.“I am proud of how I ran today, the weather was not easy but I executed well. Consistency has been my focus, and I expected to see the results here after the work I’ve put in.” Well, with her eyes set on the record, Brown is certain about her victory as this season has been nothing but amazing for her.

Brown has been on fire this season. She started her season with the 2025 Meeting de Paris, part of the Diamond League. Brown placed 5th in the women’s 200 m with a time of 22.77 s. After her performance, she surged to 22.21s for second place finish in Poland and finally stole the show in Lausanne. With the same consistency, she is on the way to getting the gold in Zurich.

However, on the other hand, Gabby Thomas had quite a challenging season so far. She kicked off her season in style, smashing a 41.74s meet record in the 4×100 m at the Texas Relays before lighting up Kingston’s Grand Slam Track with a 22.62s victory in the 200 m and a personal-best 49.14s in the 400 m. Her momentum carried to Miami, where she blazed to a 21.95s win in the 200 m after a solid 10.97s fourth-place finish in the 100 m. Just when dominance seemed inevitable, an untimely injury derailed her Diamond League campaign.

Fighting back, she returned to the US Nationals, shocking fans with a third-place finish. After her USATF performance, she took a break to prepare for the 2025 Tokyo World Championship. With multiple setbacks this year, Thomas is focusing on Tokyo, but can she perform better? Well, Coach Rob seems to have an answer to it.

Gabby Thomas might not be able to return to her prime this season

While speaking on his YouTube channel, track and field analyst and coach, Coach Rob, shared his perspective on whether Thomas and Richardson would be able to perform well after a season marred by injuries and setbacks. Coach Rob highlighted that both of them are in the same phase. “I think they’re both in the same boat. And the boat is—do they have enough time? Like, is there enough real estate on the calendar left for them to get to where they need to get to, to be the threats that they are?”

While speaking about Thomas, he asserted that apart from her Kingston 200m and 400m performances, she is yet to show her full potential. Pulling out of the Diamond League was a big decision for her, but it was necessary to retain the world title. “Now, you’re allowed to say, ‘Well, they lost.” You could say that. That would be true, said Coach Rob.

He further added, “And if this sport were set up where it was primarily about competing and winning, and doing so regularly, and you had some form of a record where the wins and losses added up to something, that would all make sense. But because the way the sport is set up right now, technically, there’s only one meet on the calendar that matters, and you just have to make sure you’re on the line when it happens.

With just days remaining until the World Championship, Rob is certain that Thomas will find it difficult to regain her original form. However, she would beg to differ: “But I am confident in what I am able to do, I have had some good races on my belt this season so I think of that but you always want to go the USAs as healthy at the end of the day so it is rough,” said Thomas. Regardless, do you think Gabby Thomas would be able to make a staunch comeback?