American Gabby Thomas sparkles at 200 meters, and track has a new golden star

SAINT-DENIS, France - Here is how a star was born: with an explosion. Early steps packed with power and every long stride exuding grace. There was determination and purpose. It happened fast - don’t dare blink - and at exactly the right time, that star started to sparkle, bright enough to make an entire stadium glow and a city swoon.

Yes, Paris is the City of Light, but none shined brighter than Gabby Thomas on Tuesday at Stade de France, where the 27-year-old sprinter completed a years-long journey, covering the final short stretch of it in all of 21.83 seconds to win Olympic gold.

She had envisioned every step and had a plan for each piece of the 200-meter race. With Thomas, there’s always a plan, always a concrete goal, whether it’s an Olympic title or an Ivy League education. She hadn’t thought about the end, though.

“There’s no way to really prepare for that,” she would explain later.

So when Thomas finally reached the finish line, a full 0.25 seconds ahead of anyone else, she broke down. There were tears and a silent scream. Her hands went to her head, and she seemed to be in disbelief.

“It was so many emotions flooding me. Happiness, joy, pride, disbelief, shock, all at once,” she said. “It was the happiest moment of my life.”

Thomas is no newcomer or fresh face. She won bronze at the Tokyo Games and has a target on her back every time she steps on the track. But Olympic gold in the 200, the first for the United States since Allyson Felix’s in 2012, catapulted Thomas into a new stratosphere. A star was born in Paris - for the sport, for U.S. track and field and for everyone who caught a glimpse of that speeding blur of light flying around the curve.

“She’s the female that needs to be in front of the track world,” said McKenzie Long, the 24-year-old American who had a good view of Thomas from Lane 2. “She’s that type of female that everybody should look up to and want to be like, you know?”

Thomas’s curriculum vitae is already packed, so it’s not yet clear where this latest accomplishment fits. Two-time Olympian, of course. But don’t forget her neurobiology degree from Harvard. Or her master’s in public health from Texas.

Running wasn’t always the most important thing. In fact, it often wasn’t. There were times in college she wanted to hang up the spikes. Even after turning professional, she emailed her agent to say she was done. But she couldn’t walk away.

“Track is not exactly a fun activity in itself,” she explained late Tuesday night. “You’re literally running, and it’s hard, and it’s painful. … But I found the beauty in it. I found the love in it. I just love chasing goals. I love chasing my dreams. I love moments like this where everything comes together.”

Thomas trains in Austin with Tonja Buford-Bailey, a three-time Olympic hurdler who won bronze at the 1996 Olympics. Before Tuesday’s final, her coach told her that everything Thomas had been through - every youth meet, every injury, every world championship and every Olympic heat from three years ago - had equipped her for this, that “I was prepared, I was mature, and I was ready,” Thomas recalled.

In the call room before the race, as others reviewed their race plans and locked in mentally, Thomas did 10 burpees, the onerous full-body exercise that is definitely not typical prerace prep.

“I looked over, I was like, ‘Okaaay,’” Long said.

That might have been an Olympic first, but Buford-Bailey wanted Thomas to get her heart rate up before stepping out into the stadium. When the gun finally fired, Thomas said, she blacked out. But she knew the plan. Get out fast and take the lead. Don’t stop, and don’t worry about anything around you. As far as Thomas was concerned, she was the only one on the purple track.

“It’s kind of like tunnel vision at that point,” Thomas said. “I got out of the blocks, and I couldn’t tell you where anything was. … It’s the most bizarre feeling when you get into a flow and you get into that energy where nothing matters but the finish line.”

Thomas’s lead only grew over the final 20 meters, and when she crossed the finish line, she had put plenty of daylight between herself and Julien Alfred, the 23-year-old Saint Lucia sprinter who won gold in the 100 meters Saturday. Right behind her, winning bronze, was American Brittany Brown, her eyelids glowing with designer eye shadow colors called “I Am Unbreakable” and “I Am Invincible.”

Tuesday’s final was missing a couple of the world’s top sprinters. Elaine Thompson-Herah, the gold medalist at the past two Olympics, suffered an Achilles’ tendon injury in June and had to withdraw from the Jamaican trials. And Shericka Jackson, who took gold at the past two world championships and is the second-fastest 200 sprinter ever, withdrew earlier in the week.

“It’s unfortunate that you can’t have your reigning world champion competing,” said Thomas, who still hopes to run in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays here, “but I was confident before that and I was confident going into the race.”

Thomas is the latest American champion in one of the sport’s marquee events. A golden line connects Wilma Rudolph to Florence Griffith-Joyner to Felix and now to Thomas.

“I haven’t thought about how my life is going to change,” she said. “I didn’t want to think about that going into the race, because it’s very overwhelming to think about.”

But she knows track is just part of the equation and that newly won medal just part of her platform. Long was asked what she admired about Thomas, and she didn’t have to think long. She didn’t mention Thomas’s training, her starts, her acceleration or her closing speed.

“Her poise,” Long said. “She’s very much an empowerment woman. She carries a lot of power. You can tell by just how she carries herself.”

She’s not sure what the future holds exactly, but she wants to be an active role model. She is already involved with an effort to grow the women’s side of the sport. Alexis Ohanian, the Reddit co-founder and husband of Serena Williams, is staging the inaugural 776 Invitational in New York in September, a track meet just for women, with Thomas as a headliner.

“I want young girls to look at us as strong female athletes and feel like they can do it, too,” Thomas said. “I want them to feel like they’re encouraged to go into professional sports. I want them to feel encouraged to pursue their dreams, no matter how big or small.”

Thomas believed in hers. The way she sped around the curve, it looked as though she was born for it, a shooting star just getting started. No matter how much she planned and dreamed, this radiant night was a lot to take in.

“You prepare for this moment and you train so hard for this moment, and when it actually comes, it’s indescribable,” Thomas said. “I couldn’t believe it. I never would’ve imagined in my wildest dreams that I would become an Olympic gold medalist. And I am one. I’m still wrapping my head around that.”