“Just when you think the job is done, doping control comes, take away the fun. It’s 1 a.m., I haven’t eaten, definitely haven’t slept, definitely haven’t showered. All I want is to go home.” Noah Lyles had previously opened up about how out-of-competition dr-g testing can get rough and exhausting for athletes at times. Many athletes have opened up that there is a possibility that officials pull up at the most unexpected times. You never know when there’s a knock on your doorstep. A similar instance has now happened with the reigning 200m Olympic champion, Gabby Thomas. However, she’s taking it with a humorous twist!

Noah Lyles and Gabby Thomas aren’t the only ones who have opened about how rigorous the anti-doping testing could get at times. Even athletes like Hunter Woodhall and Tara Davis-Woodhall have had these unexpected guests knock on their doors at odd hours. “Tara and I were watching Mr. Beast games last night – shout out to Jimmy – at 9:00 p.m. Someone knocks on our door. Who could be showing up at our house at 9:00 p.m.? Drug testing. Boom…” Well, that was still their house. But Gabby Thomas has now faced this at a public outing!

Yes, on July 21, Gabby Thomas uploaded an Instagram post where she was drinking coffee and speaking to her friends at the “Coffee and Chill Austin” community event by New Balance at the Other Racquet Social Club this weekend. That’s when the antidoping official pulled up. Gabby then filmed a video on the crossover, on the “You, Me, and Your Friend Steve” trend, giving the encounter a hilarious twist and light-heartedly labeling the official as ‘Steve’, who just crashed her outing. She even captioned it saying, “When antidoping surprises you but you had plans.” However, that’s quite a shocker! Having their antidoping official from the USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) show up while an athlete is out and about in the town with her friends is quite unexpected. But that happened, and it’s just surprising!

Gabby Thomas then shared a few more details that highlight just how embedded anti-doping protocols have become in her day-to-day life. “Knows all of my friends on a first name basis atp 😂,” she wrote in the caption: a tongue-in-cheek nod to just how often these visits seem to happen. It’s clear that surprise testing isn’t just a formality; for Gabby, it’s practically a recurring guest appearance.

Although it seems humorous at first, the comment section underneath Gabby Thomas’ post highlights that this is relatable not just for her, but for many contemporary athletes. The Woodhalls commented from their joint Instagram account, saying, “So relatable lol.” And when a fan asked Gabby out of genuine concern, “How do they find you if you are out?? Are they tracking you??“, she replied, “I wish they were tracking us! Lol we log our whereabouts in a web app every day. They can come anywhere anytime between 5am-11pm.” However, in another comment, Thomas revealed how she is usually very quick with these instances, but she has also had some great times with her officials.

In cases when the antidoping agent shows up, the athlete is required to give them their sample. And the entire point of the testing is for it to be unannounced. Thus, Gabby Thomas then added a comment citing the places where she has run into her antidoping official. She wrote, “pickleball, rooftop bars, town lake, you name it 😂.” However, the Coffee and Chill event commented from their official account that, “Well that was a first for us!” Until now, they never had an athlete being approached for a test at the event. But that happened with Gabby Thomas. And Gabby? She cooperated completely. After all, she had faced the repercussions back in 2020.

Gabby Thomas faced a whereabouts failure in 2020

Back in 2020, in May, Gabby Thomas was banned by the AIU for allegedly missing three tests in 12 months. As per the anti-doping rules, this was a whereabouts failure. But later in July, after Thomas provided new evidence in June, it was concluded that one of the missed tests could not be established, and so there was no anti-doping rule violation that had been committed.

Gabby Thomas had said, “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.” After this, Thomas’ provisional suspension for not making herself available for tests was lifted by the Athletics Integrity Unit.

However, since then, it seems like she takes her antidoping tests very optimistically. Even now, she decided to give it a humorous twist.