Bettor who bragged about heckling U.S. sprinter Gabby Thomas during loss banned by FanDuel
FanDuel has banned a bettor who bragged about heckling U.S. sprinter Gabby Thomas during a Grand Slam Track event and declared on social media that her loss in a race "made my parlay win."
FanDuel announced the ban in a statement provided to media on Wednesday.
'FanDuel condemns in the strongest terms abusive behavior directed towards athletes,' the statement reads. 'Threatening or harassing athletes is unacceptable and has no place in sports. This customer is no longer able to wager with FanDuel.'
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Thomas, who won three gold medals at the Paris Olympics, competed in two races at the Grand Slam Track meet in Philadelphia last weekend. She finished second in the 200 meters on Saturday and fourth in the 100 meters on Sunday. Melissa Jefferson-Wooden won both races.
The heckler describes himself as "The Track and Field Bully" in his social media bio. He posted video of himself in the stands at the starting line of Sunday's 100-meter race yelling at and heckling Thomas as runners prepared to take the starting blocks.
"Don't choke Gabby like you did yesterday, Gabby," he yelled. "You a choke artist. You going down, Gabby."
FanDuel says that it has banned a bettor who heckled Gabby Thomas, right, during a track meet last weekend. (STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(NurPhoto via Getty Images)
This went on for more than a minute on the video, which included the heckler making comments about Thomas' husband. The heckler wrote alongside the video that "I made Gabby lose by heckling her. And it made my parlay win." The post included a screenshot of a $1,000 FanDuel parlay slip with Jefferson-Wooden picked to win.
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The heckler also posted separate video of himself yelling directly at Thomas as Thomas walked on the track between events. Thomas responded with a smile, "what are you doing here?"
Thomas responded to the heckler's social media post with one of her own on Monday.
"This grown man followed me around the track as I took pictures and signed autographs for fans (mostly children) shouting personal insults- anybody who enables him online is gross," Thomas wrote.
She later responded to a comment on her post in support of the heckler:
"I think heckling is tolerable," Thomas wrote. "… but following me around the stadium is weird in my opinion. But you're both kinda weird so i can see why you think it's normal."
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Grand Slam Track announced that it was launching an investigation into the heckler in a statement provided to media on Monday.
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