FanDuel bans bettor who heckled Olympic champion Gabby Thomas in Philadelphia
A sports bettor who heckled Olympic champion sprinter Gabby Thomas during a Grand Slam Track event in Philadelphia over the weekend has been banned by the betting site FanDuel Sportsbook.
In a statement sent to The Associated Press on Wednesday, FanDuel wrote it "condemns in the strongest terms abusive behavior directed towards athletes. Threatening or harassing athletes is unacceptable and has no place in sports. This customer is no longer able to wager with FanDuel."
Last weekend, Thomas finished fourth in a 100-meter race won by Melissa Jefferson-Wooden. The bettor wrote in a post on social media that he "made Gabby lose by heckling her. And it made my parlay win." He posted a picture of his parlay, which included Jefferson-Wooden winning the 100.
Thomas, the 200-meter champion at the Paris Games last summer, explained the heckling incident on X. She wrote: "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."
Grand Slam Track, a track league launched by Hall of Fame sprinter Michael Johnson this spring, wrote in a statement it was "conducting a full investigation into the reprehensible behavior captured on video.
"We are working to identify the individual involved and will take appropriate action as necessary. We will implement additional safeguards to help prevent incidents like this in the future. Let us be clear, despicable behavior like this will not be tolerated."
ESPN first reported the bettor had been banned by FanDuel. The Grand Slam Track season wraps up with the fourth and final meet in Los Angeles on June 28-29.
The Thomas incident is the latest in a string of stalking and abuse of female athletes. Frida Karlsson, a Swedish cross-country skiing world champion, recently brought her experience with stalking into public view when she went through a trial.
A man in his 60s was given a suspended sentence and ordered to pay 40,000 kronor ($4,100) in damages after being convicted of stalking Karlsson for a year and four months, according to Swedish news agency TT. The man, according to the indictment, called Karlsson 207 times, left her voicemails and text messages and approached her, including outside her apartment.
In February, police in the United Arab Emirates detained a man who caused British tennis player Emma Raducanu distress by exhibiting " fixated behavior " toward he at a tennis tournament. Raducanu had been approached by the man at the Dubai Championships where he left her a note, took her photograph and engaged in behavior that caused her distress, according to the government of Dubai's media office.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Commonly used household item savagely exposed cheating husband: ‘It's timestamped and often location-based'
A woman caught her husband cheating in one of the most bizarre ways — and it involved an item everyone is guilty of using. There are some obvious signs that someone isn't being faithful in a relationship — being sneaky with their phone, suddenly having to work late. But rarely do people think to pay attention to their partner's mouth hygiene habits. Paul Jones, a private investigator at ARF Investigators, helped a woman figure out her husband was cheating, thanks to a log of his tooth brushing. It's not as weird as it sounds. One of Jones' clients downloaded an electric toothbrush app to get her kids to properly brush their pearly whites. Well, little did she — or her conniving husband — realize that the app tracked every family member's brushing routine. 'Over time, the client noticed their partner's brushing history was being logged at odd times, times when they were supposedly at work,' Jones said, according to the Mirror. Eventually, the wife noticed a bizarre pattern when her husband was sudsing his mouth — especially when it was happening at times he was supposed to be at work, the outlet explained. '… in that time he had started an affair with a work colleague and used to have her over the family home on a Friday when the wife and kids were out of the house,' the investigator said. 'It's timestamped, often location-based, and emotionless. When a device says someone brushed their teeth at 10:48 a.m. when they were supposed to start work at 9 a.m., that's very hard to explain away.' Another very unexpected way technology can help expose dirty cheaters is by checking the person's supermarket loyalty apps, the ones that help shoppers save money and earn rewards, according to London-based private investigator Aaron Bond. He said a supermarket loyalty member app can reveal a lot. 'Clubcard data is limited, but it does tell you a date and location, which is easily accessible if you log into your account,' Bond told the Mirror. 'If your partner claims they were working or out with friends but the account shows they made a purchase in a completely different area, then it's a clear red flag.'
CBS News
33 minutes ago
- CBS News
T.J. and Megan McConnell swap jerseys before Game 1 of NBA Finals
T.J. and Megan McConnell are known to have strong sibling love and on Thursday night, they supported each other's basketball journeys from afar. The brother-sister duo showed up to their respective games wearing each others jerseys as T.J. was making his first appearance in the NBA Finals in Oklahoma City. Megan was sidelined with injury from the Phoenix Mercury's game against the Golden State Valkyries. Both T.J. and Megan were star players at Chartiers Valley before going on to play college basketball at Duquesne University and entering the NBA and WNBA, respectively. When T.J. showed up to the Paycom Center for Game 1 of the NBA Finals, he did so wearing Megan's Mercury jersey. Your brother wearing your rookie pro jersey to his first @NBA Finals game is such a flex 😎 — Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) June 5, 2025 Earlier this week, Megan signed a contract with the Mercury, becoming just one of three active duos in the NBA and WNBA of brother-sister combinations. Megan made her WNBA debut earlier this week, scoring three points during 13 minutes of playing time before she suffered a knee injury and is now expected to be sidelined for several weeks. Even though she was sidelined for Thursday night's Phoenix game, she showed up wearing T.J.'s Pacers jersey. For T.J. and the Pacers, it was a good night as Indiana stunned Oklahoma City with a 111-110 comeback win to take a 1-0 series lead in the Finals. T.J. McConnell is just the ninth player from the WPIAL or Pittsburgh's City League to play in the nearly 80 years of the NBA Finals.
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump outraged by Ukraine's strikes on Russia: White House considers ending support for Kyiv
US President Donald Trump is outraged by Ukraine's decision to strike Russian air bases. The attack has caused anger in the White House and triggered a new wave of debate over the advisability of further support for Kyiv. Source: The Atlantic, citing three administration officials and an outside White House adviser Details: According to The Atlantic, Trump has in private conversations with advisers expressed deep dissatisfaction that Ukraine had taken such a step without coordinating with the United States. The sources said that a new round of discussions has begun on whether continued military and financial support for Kyiv is justified following the Ukrainian attack. Trump's personal dissatisfaction with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was once again rekindled – the US president has called him a "hothead" who, in his opinion, could push the world towards a Third World War. "Zelenskyy didn't give the president of the United States a heads-up to say he's going to do a deep strike into strategic forces of Russia, which is going up the escalatory ladder as quickly as you can, on the day before your meeting in Türkiye?" Trump's former strategist Steve Bannon said. Trump privately backed the view of right-wing critics this week, accusing Zelenskyy of allegedly showing off after the drone strikes. According to an adviser, Trump was impressed by the boldness of the strikes but believes Zelenskyy should have focused on the talks between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul. Background: Trump revealed details of his latest conversation with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, including his suggestion that Ukraine and Russia should be allowed to "fight for a while" because it would make ending the war easier later. Earlier, Trump said he is refraining from imposing sanctions on Russia if he believes it could "screw up" the conclusion of a "deal". Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
