After an Achilles injury cut short much of her 2025 season, Gabby Thomas came back to 2026 with something to prove. The Olympic champion has spent this year racing across Africa, North America and Europe, showing she has returned to her best. Many fans expected her to line up at the USATF Championships and settle the score after last year’s defeat to Melissa Jefferson-Wooden. Instead, Thomas was nowhere to be seen, and she has now revealed why she chose to skip the national championships.

Thomas’ absence quickly sparked speculation, especially after the injury that disrupted her previous season. However, the 29-year-old reiterated that her decision was not due to her health.  Instead, Thomas explained that the timing of the national championships “did not fit into her Diamond League and international schedule.”

The explanation comes almost a year after Thomas faced her biggest loss. Competing as the reigning Olympic 200m champion, she was unable to defend her national title in the 2025 USATF Outdoor Championships because of her Achilles injury. There, Thomas finished third in the 200 m in 22.20 seconds, just behind Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, who won in 21.84, and Anavia Battle, 22.13.

Although Thomas secured her spot on Team USA for the World Championships following the result, she was later forced to pull out due to the Achilles injury. So yes, if she had been able to compete in the ’26 season, it would have been the revenge she wanted. Looking back on that difficult period, Thomas said a change in mindset helped her push through the disappointment. Rather than seeing herself as injured, she chose to think of herself as healing.

“You are setting up to come back even better.” She added: “Every time that I’ve had an injury, I’ve always come back stronger and better and faster. So that was what I was thinking, and then, just staying focused.” That approach has paid off. Thomas has enjoyed one of the strongest seasons of her career in 2026.

Gabby Thomas returned stronger before Julien Alfred became her biggest test

After an Achilles injury disrupted much of her 2025 season, Gabby Thomas returned looking every bit like the Olympic champion fans remembered. She opened her outdoor campaign by running 11.00 seconds in the 100m at the Texas Relays before taking her form overseas.

Then she won the 200m in Addis Ababa in 22.15 seconds before completing the sprint double in Nairobi, taking the 100m in 11.01 and the 200m in 21.89. A day later, she delivered another statement in Gaborone, clocking a personal best 10.95 in the 100m, her first career sub-11 performance.

The wins kept coming as the season shifted to North America. Thomas produced a season-best 21.70 in the 200m at the USATF Lone Star Grand Prix in June. For much of the season, Thomas looked untouchable. Then Julien Alfred arrived.

Their rivalry took center stage during the European Diamond League circuit. At the Monaco Diamond League, Thomas finished third in 21.84 as Alfred stormed to a world-leading 21.51, with Adaejah Hodge also edging the American in 21.76. A week later in London, Thomas once again found herself chasing Alfred, finishing second in 21.81 while the Saint Lucian star claimed another victory in 21.66.

Even with those defeats, Thomas has remained one of the most consistent sprinters in the world. By the end of July, she had recorded five sub-22-second performances in the 200m this season, taking her career total to 20.

With the USATF Championships behind her, Thomas is now turning her attention to the biggest races still to come. She is expected to compete at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship, continue her Diamond League campaign, and return for Athlos later this year.