Gabby Thomas and the USADA do not particularly have a great relationship. After all, the Olympian still cannot forget how she was banned from competing back in May 2020. And the reason? Apparently, she missed three tests in 12 months. But as per Thomas, she was pretty much present at the locations that she claimed to be in. 

Back then, the Olympic gold medalist might have had a bitter experience with dr-g testing. And now, she strictly wants USADA to eliminate those resorting to illicit practices. In a recent Instagram story, Thomas spoke about the issue of doping affecting the track and field realm worldwide. Gabby Thomas was pretty clear in her stand. She stated that anybody, whether it was an athlete or a coach, who is found guilty of doping must be banned.

The Olympian stated, “Doping coaches should be banned for life from coaching in the sport. Whether you were banned while competing as an athlete or caught distributing as a coach (for some, both). Idc idc idc.” And she also targeted athletes who were training under controversial coaches. 

Gabby Thomas stated that an athlete must refrain from getting coached by someone who has a record of doping in the past. She added that doing so will only make the concerned athlete ‘complicit.’ “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,” Thomas wrote in her story. Surely, such a strict stance shows the integrity and honesty that the Olympic champion brings to the table. 

And that is despite all the differences that she had had with the USADA in the past.

According to the anti-doping rules, Thomas had committed a whereabouts failure back in 2020. But when the Olympian provided enough evidence, she was cleared of the violation charges. “Phone tracking data and multiple witnesses will conclusively show that I was at the exact location I established in my whereabouts and that the doping control officer simply failed to locate me and failed to follow proper protocol,” stated Thomas while making a strong case for her defense. 

Thomas has been intervened by USADA officials at places such as “pickleball, rooftop bars, town lake, you name it,” as per the Olympic gold medalist.

But right now, Gabby Thomas’ comments come at a time when US athlete Twanisha Terry had a surprising take on the entire doping matter. 

Twanisha Terry denies doping claims, cites clean tests, and demands respect

Twanisha Terry is not hedging her words. As speculation swirls around figures close to her, the Olympic relay gold medalist has decided to speak without the filters that so often soften these confrontations. “What y’all are not going to do is accuse me of using any type of substance,” she declared on X. There is no hedging, no evasive phrasing. Her message is direct, born not from panic, but from weariness. The weary defiance of an athlete whose progress has always been public, yet now feels the need to justify what has already been measured: Years of clean tests and consistent, rational development.

Her coach, Dennis Mitchell, is no stranger to these storms. A decade ago, Justin Gatlin cut professional ties with Mitchell following a damning undercover investigation that implicated the coach in performance-enhancing drug discussions. Gatlin’s statement at the time was terse and strategic. “I fired him as soon as I found out about this.” Gatlin, himself a divisive figure due to prior bans, sought immediate disassociation.

The history is hard to ignore, especially now, as similar clouds resurface, with Mitchell once again coaching athletes under suspicion, and Fred Kerley, another prominent U.S. sprinter, recently suspended.

Sprinter Gil Roberts was handed an eight-year ban in June 2024 after testing positive for multiple Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (SARMs), including Ostarine, RAD-140, Ligandrol, and SR9009. This was his second anti-doping violation. His results from September 20, 2023, onward were disqualified. Following this, Masters-level athlete Robert Qualls also accepted a three-year suspension in June 2024 after a positive test revealed Amphetamine, Nandrolone, and exogenous Testosterone, with his ban retroactive to April 2, 2024, and results disqualified from February 24, 2024. He later received an additional three-month ban for competing while ineligible in August 2025.

Terry’s decision to speak publicly does not merely protect her own name. It disrupted the passive silence that often surrounds such allegations. Her emphasis on her testing history, “Been in the pool since college… nothing negative attached to me,” reads not like a prepared defense, but as a rebuke to a sport too willing to conflate proximity with guilt. She does not ask for trust. She demands not to be mischaracterized.