Former Florence resident Gabby Thomas, a three-time gold-medalist during the Paris 2024 Olympics, called out social media users questioning her degree from Harvard over the weekend.
The altercation on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) began when one account wrote “doesn’t sound like she’s the brightest out there.”
Thomas, 28, responded writing “You’re probably right, darn my Harvard degree,” shortly after.
The former Williston Northampton standout then received numerous racist remarks from X users, questioning if the Team USA track star earned her degree from the prestigious university due to her race.
In another post on Sunday, Thomas wrote “Today, on Jan 26, 2025, there are hundreds of people commenting on my Twitter page that specifically because I am black, they must assume I did not earn my admission into Harvard nor did I earn my diploma. Is this real life??”
Thomas — who won the 200-meter final this past summer — received support from X users in the comments to that post, with one calling the claim “ridiculous.”
Thomas graduated from Harvard in 2019 with a degree in neuroscience, plus minored in global health and health policy, per the school.
During her athletic career with the Crimson, Thomas set eight all-time records in women’s track.
In addition to her three gold medals, Thomas earned silver and bronze during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
