Gabby Thomas calls out Grand Slam Track heckler who bragged about winning bets, with league investigating
U.S. sprinter Gabby Thomas has called out a man who heckled her and bragged about his betting results throughout a Grand Slam Track event this weekend.
Thomas, who won three gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, participated in two sprinting events at the Grand Slam Track meet in Philadelphia as part of the Michael Johnson-founded track league's inaugural season. Thomas finished in second in the 200-meter sprint and fourth in the 100-meter.
Advertisement
After Thomas posted a recap of the weekend on X, the heckler, who uses the username "Mr 100K a day" on X, commented on the post, bragging that his taunts toward Thomas made her lose the race and included screenshots of his successful parlay bets on FanDuel Sportsbook.
"I made Gabby lose by heckling her. And it made my parlay win," he wrote in the comment, with a video of him harassing Thomas as she lined up for one of the events.
Soon after that comment was posted, Thomas quickly pointed out the man's behavior.
"This grown man followed me around the track as I took pictures and signed autographs for fans (mostly children) shouting personal insults," Thomas said in a post on X, in response to the user's comment. "Anybody who enables him online is gross."
Advertisement
In response to a comment on her post, Thomas commented that she hadn't planned on calling the heckler out but changed her mind "since he's bragging."
Grand Slam Track told Front Office Sports that it is investigating the user.
"Grand Slam Track is conducting a full investigation into the reprehensible behavior captured on video," the league told Front Office Sports in a statement. "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."
The user's screenshots indicated that he had won more than $2,000 in total off two parlays, where he bet on Melissa Jefferson-Wooden to win the 100m. In the video, the man could be heard calling Thomas a "choke job" and referenced the fact that Thomas, who is Black, was engaged to a white man, while Jefferson-Wooden, who is also Black, had married a Black man earlier this year.
Advertisement
In addition to the comment under Thomas' post, the user posted the same video and screenshots in a separate post hours earlier, thanking Jefferson-Wooden for helping him win his bet.
"I want to thank mellissa jefferson (sic) for beating the crap out of gabby thomas at Grand Slam Track and getting me rich!!!!" he wrote.
The user tagged Thomas, Jefferson-Wooden and Grand Slam Track in the post.
In another post from Sunday, the user posted an interaction between him and Thomas where the sprinter asked "What are you doing here?" and jokingly called him a "heckler."
The user captioned the video with a similar message. "Nice to heckle gabby thomas today and make her lose," he said, once again tagging both Thomas and Grand Slam Track. "It was my pleasure."
Advertisement
Thomas noted in a comment on X that she had a line when it came to the user's behavior. "I think heckling is tolerable… but following me around the stadium is weird in my opinion," she said.
The user, in a direct message with USA Today on X, disputed Thomas' claim that he was following her around the stadium. The user also gave the outlet a fake name when asked for his name and where he lived, and said that he lives in Puerto Rico.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
2025 U.S. Nationals: 16-year-old swimmer Luka Mijatovic breaks 200m freestyle record held by Michael Phelps
There's still three years before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, but 16-year-old swimmer Luka Mijatovic is already turning some heads. Mijatovic broke a record previously held by Michael Phelps at the 2025 U.S. Nationals on Wednesday. Mijatovic posted a 200m freestyle time of 1:45.92. That figure shattered the previous record for the 15-16 age group, which was 1:47.29. If that weren't impressive enough, Mijatovic's time also set the record for the 17-18 age group, which was previously held by Michael Phelps, who posted a 1:45.99 time Any time a swimmer can best Phelps, it's going to get attention. Phelps is one of the greatest swimmers — and one of the most accomplished Olympians — of all-time. He won a total of 28 medals at the games, and holds numerous Olympic records for his excellence. Advertisement Mijatovic is already building an impressive resume. He placed first in both the 500 Y Free and 200 Y Free events at the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State Championships in May. He's considered one of the top high school swimmers in the United States and ranks first among high school swimmers in California. The 2025 U.S. Swimming Championships began Tuesday, and saw a number of American, including Katie Ledecky, Torri Huske and Bobby Finke turn in some excellent performances. The event — which is being held at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis — will run through Saturday. Winners of each individual event will qualify for the World Championships, which will be held in Singapore in July and August.
32 minutes ago
Judge dismisses murder charges against officer in shooting of unarmed man in closet
ATLANTA -- A federal judge has thrown out murder charges against a former Atlanta police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man hiding in a closet. U.S. District Judge Michael Brown ruled Tuesday that Sung Kim, a 26-year veteran of the Atlanta police department, acted in self defense and shouldn't face charges in the 2019 killing of 21-year-old Jimmy Atchison. 'The evidence for self-defense is so overwhelming it is hard to understand how Georgia could have brought these charges in the first place, much less continued with them over the two-and-a-half years since," Brown wrote in his ruling. 'Defendant's shooting of Mr. Atchison was textbook self-defense.' Kim was indicted in state court in 2022, but moved his case to federal court because he was assigned to an FBI fugitive task force when the shooting happened and thus was a federal officer. Atlanta activists have cited Atchison's death as an example of unjustified police violence against Black people. His name was often chanted by Atlanta protesters during Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020. The shooting also sparked policy changes. The Atlanta Police Department withdrew its officers from federal task forces because task force members weren't allowed to wear body cameras, meaning there is no video of Atchison's shooting. Officers returned after federal agencies began allowing local task force officers to wear cameras. Atchison was killed on Jan. 22, 2019, after Kim and other task force members tried to arrest him on charges that he stole a woman's purse and cellphone in an armed robbery. Kim retired from the Atlanta Police Department several months later. A Fulton County grand jury indicted Kim on charges that included felony murder and involuntary manslaughter. Officers forced their way into an apartment, prompting Atchison to jump out of a window, run through a second building and hide beneath a mound of clothes in a closet in another apartment. In his ruling, Brown rejected claims by a state witness that officers violated generally accepted police practices by entering the other apartment and the bedroom where Atchison was hiding. Testimony showed Kim shot Atchison in the face after Kim either yelled for Atchison to not move or show his hands. Atchison suddenly moved his hands from under the clothes. Family members say Atchison was raising his hands to surrender when Kim shot him in the face. Kim and other officers testified that they believed Atchison's move was threatening, as if he had a gun. Brown ruled that fear was reasonable and justified a shooting in self-defense. 'Nothing required defendant to hold off shooting until he literally saw a gun in Mr. Atchison's hand,' the judge wrote. 'He had a reasonable belief Mr. Atchison was armed and was going to shoot him. That is all that matters.' Nabika Atchison, Jimmy Atchison's sister, said in a statement that relatives are 'deeply disappointed' by Brown's decision, 'but with today's climate surrounding police brutality, I can't say we are surprised.' Tanya Miller, a Democratic state House member and lawyer representing the Atchison family, said the decision is a 'painful subversion of justice.' 'This decision underscores the troubling gap in accountability when local officers operate on federal task forces — a no-man's land where they can violate their own department's policies, the Constitution, take a young life, and still avoid standing trial,' Miller wrote in a text message. Don Samuel, a lawyer for Kim, said via email that the ruling was correct. 'It is hard to celebrate when a young man died," Samuel wrote, "but there is no doubt that the decision of the Fulton County DA's office to compound the tragedy by prosecuting Sung Kim was an inexcusable abuse of prosecutorial discretion." The Georgia state conference of the NAACP called on Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to appeal the ruling, saying it unjustly shields officers from accountability when they kill unarmed people. 'This ruling is not just a blow to the Atchison family's pursuit of justice — it's a threat to civil rights and public safety across the nation,' said Gerald Griggs, president of the Georgia NAACP.
Fox News
37 minutes ago
- Fox News
Olympian Ilona Maher reveals personal detail about fashion show appearance
Ilona Maher helped the United States Olympic women's rugby sevens team to a bronze medal finish during the 2024 Paris Games and raised her profile with hilarious and heartfelt social media posts. Maher became a fan favorite during the Olympics and her increased celebrity led her to shine as a Sports Ilustrated Swimsuit model. She was in Miami Beach over the weekend walking down the aisle in a reddish-orange bikini and a turquoise one-piece that flashed her arms. "Men think they are tough but they'll never do Miami Swim Week wearing only bikinis while on their period like I did," she revealed in an Instagram reel on Tuesday. She captioned the post, "I applaud myself." The Americans defeated Australia 14-12 to win the bronze medal in the event. New Zealand won gold and Canada finished with silver. Maher played in six matches, finishing with 15 points and three tries. She was not the only athlete to walk down the runway for the fashion show. Former LSU Tigers gymnast, Olivia Dunne, was also at the event as one of the cover models for the swimsuit edition of the magazine. She stunned the crowd when she performed a split at the end of her routine. "I got triple dog dared," Dunne wrote on X afterward. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
