Latest news with #GrandSlamTrack
Reuters
30 minutes ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Olympic gold medalist Gabby Thomas calls out bettor for verbal abuse
June 3 - Gabby Thomas, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, said that an adult male sports bettor followed and verbally abused her during a Grand Slam Track meet in Philadelphia over the weekend. Thomas posted on X that as she took pictures and signed autographs for fans -- mostly children -- around the track, the man continued to follow her while shouting personal insults. She added that "anybody who enables him online is gross." Responding to a previous Thomas post, a man shared a video of him heckling the sprinter at the starting line. He also shared a screenshot of a bet slip with a parlay that included Thomas losing in the 200-meter dash as one of the legs. Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, who also edged Thomas in the 100, went on to win the 200, resulting in a win of more than $800. The man wrote: "I made Gabby lose by heckling her. And it made my parlay win." Thomas later replied that "the heckling is tolerable" but added that "it's following me around the stadium that's wild." "Grand Slam Track is conducting a full investigation into the reprehensible behavior captured on video," the track circuit said in a statement to The Athletic. "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." Thomas, 28, shined at the 2024 Paris Olympics, winning gold not only in the 200 but also in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. --Field Level Media
New York Times
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Olympic gold medalist Gabby Thomas calls out bettor for following, heckling her at Philadelphia meet
Three-time Olympic gold medalist Gabby Thomas said she was followed and verbally abused by a sports bettor during a Grand Slam Track meet in Philadelphia over the weekend. '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 on X on Monday. Advertisement In response to a previous post from Thomas, a man posted a video of him heckling the sprinter at the starting line and shared a screenshot of a winning bet slip which showed he won over $800 on a parlay which included a victory by Melissa Jefferson-Wooden in the women's 100m. Thomas, who won gold in Paris in the 200m, was bested by Jefferson-Wooden in the 200 on Saturday and then beaten by Jefferson-Wooden again Sunday in the 100. The man wrote, 'I made Gabby lose by heckling her. And it made my parlay win.' In a thread, Thomas later replied to another commenter: 'Honestly the heckling is tolerable, it's following me around the stadium that's wild.' Grand Slam Track said Tuesday it's working to identify the man in the video and is investigating the incident. 'Grand Slam Track is conducting a full investigation into the reprehensible behavior captured on video,' the track circuit said in a statement to The Athletic. '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.' Thomas, 28, saw a boost in fame after winning gold in the 200m, 4x100m and 4x400m at the Paris Olympics last summer. Her rise in mainstream popularity has also brought more intrusive attention from fans. Earlier this year, she said in a TikTok video that she was repeatedly approached by a group of men at several airports asking her to sign a stack of photos. The men reportedly got aggressive when she declined. Thomas is the latest athlete to speak out on the alarming treatment from fans related to sports betting. Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. and his family recently received death threats from a fan on social media following a 13-9 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on May 10. The Astros alerted Major League Baseball and the Houston Police Department, which later identified the fan as a frustrated bettor who lashed out online while inebriated. Editor's note: The Athletic has a partnership with BetMGM. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
Independent Singapore
10 hours ago
- Business
- Independent Singapore
Josh Kerr of Great Britain got his Olympic 1500-m payback by winning the Grand Slam Track meet
Photo: U.S.A: Great Britain's Josh Kerr got his payback against Cole Hocker as he won a thrilling 1500-m race at the Grand Slam Track meet. The 27-year-old athlete had previously lost to the American at the 2024 Paris Olympics last August, where Hocker won the gold medal. However, Kerr now made his comeback. At the race, he made his move in the final meters of the race and overtook Hocker to win by 0.07 seconds. He successfully crossed the line in a season-best time of 3 minutes and 34.44 seconds, solidifying his name as a top contender in the tournament. Furthermore, Kerr also finished fifth in the 800-m event and narrowly missed out on the $100,000 (£74,000 or S$137,000) top prize for the short-distance category. Unfortunately, he lost by just one point to Canada's Marco Arop, who won the 800-m category. In a social media post shared by World Athletics, it stated: 'Living up to the hype 🫡…🇬🇧's @joshhkerr wins the 1500m in a battle to the line against Olympic champ @colehocker with 3:34.44 😳' Netizens commented on the post and said: 'Josh Kerr continues to impress me each race. He's such a competitor. I'm really glad to see that he's been racing more now that the grand slam track is a thing this year,'@joshhkerr was running in Beast Mode for this race and it is nearly impossible to win a race against anyone who is running in Beast Mode. Steve Prefontaine ran in Beast Mode all the time. @colehocker made this a great race that was right down to the wire. I love watching the best runners in the world getting after it and giving it their absolute best! We are entering the Golden Era of Track! So exciting! Let's go ! ❤️🔥,' and 'Best runner of the generation.' Other tournament updates In the women's 100-m category, American Melissa Jefferson-Wooden gained victory by clinching the fastest time in the world this year. The Olympic bronze medallist ran a personal best of 10.73 seconds. With this, she becomes the 10th fastest woman ever over the distance, together with France's Christine Arron. More so, American Tamari Davis finished second in the women's 100-m race with a final time of 11.03 seconds. Great Britain's Dina Asher-Smith placed fifth with a time of 11.16 seconds. Moving on to the men's long sprints group, Great Britain's Matthew Hudson-Smith won for the second time in three meets. The 30-year-old athlete won the 400-m race with a final time of 44.51 seconds, and he also placed fifth in the 200-m race. His performance was enough to earn him another Grand Slam title. The Grand Slam Track is a new tournament made by Olympic legend Michael Johnson. This aims to bring together the world's fastest athletes to compete for titles and prizes.
CNN
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
American Olympic champion Gabby Thomas followed and heckled by gambler at Grand Slam Track meet
Three-time Olympic gold medalist Gabby Thomas said she was verbally abused at the Grand Slam Track meet in Philadelphia last weekend, the latest incident of harassment the American has reported this year. Thomas, who won gold in the 200 meters, and 4x100m and 4x400m relays at the Paris Games, said in a post on X that a man followed her around the track while she took pictures for fans and signed autographs, shouting personal insults at her. 'Anybody who enables him online is gross,' wrote Thomas. Thomas' post was in response to another on X which contained a video of a person heckling Thomas while she was on the starting line, shouting, 'You're a choke artist – you're going down, Gabby.' 'I made Gabby lose by heckling her. And it made my parlay win,' the social media user wrote, with a screenshot of two multi-leg bets on the FanDuel sportsbook platform. The track circuit said in a statement: 'Grand Slam Track is 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.' Thomas finished third overall in the short sprints group for the Philadelphia meet, the third in the novel circuit's inaugural season. One of American track's brightest stars, the 28-year-old Thomas catapulted to mainstream fame after her breakout performance in Paris, gracing the cover of American 'Vogue' magazine and appearing on US talk shows. But Thomas has also suffered the darker side of fame, describing on TikTok this year how she was stalked by a group of men at several airports, as social media gives female athletes greater exposure. The incident at Grand Slam Track also reflected a growing link between sports betting and harassment, with female tennis players including Caroline Garcia pointing to 'unhealthy betting' as a key culprit. Major tennis governing bodies moved to combat online abuse and published last year a report that attributed nearly half of abusive social media posts to angry gamblers. 'Thank you for pointing out this disgusting behavior,' retired former world 10,000m silver medallist and NBC Sports commentator Kara Goucher wrote on X. 'You are exposing the crap that women go through and will eventually help other women as well.'
CNN
12 hours ago
- Health
- CNN
American Olympic champion Gabby Thomas followed and heckled by gambler at Grand Slam Track meet
Three-time Olympic gold medalist Gabby Thomas said she was verbally abused at the Grand Slam Track meet in Philadelphia last weekend, the latest incident of harassment the American has reported this year. Thomas, who won gold in the 200 meters, and 4x100m and 4x400m relays at the Paris Games, said in a post on X that a man followed her around the track while she took pictures for fans and signed autographs, shouting personal insults at her. 'Anybody who enables him online is gross,' wrote Thomas. Thomas' post was in response to another on X which contained a video of a person heckling Thomas while she was on the starting line, shouting, 'You're a choke artist – you're going down, Gabby.' 'I made Gabby lose by heckling her. And it made my parlay win,' the social media user wrote, with a screenshot of two multi-leg bets on the FanDuel sportsbook platform. The track circuit said in a statement: 'Grand Slam Track is 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.' Thomas finished third overall in the short sprints group for the Philadelphia meet, the third in the novel circuit's inaugural season. One of American track's brightest stars, the 28-year-old Thomas catapulted to mainstream fame after her breakout performance in Paris, gracing the cover of American 'Vogue' magazine and appearing on US talk shows. But Thomas has also suffered the darker side of fame, describing on TikTok this year how she was stalked by a group of men at several airports, as social media gives female athletes greater exposure. The incident at Grand Slam Track also reflected a growing link between sports betting and harassment, with female tennis players including Caroline Garcia pointing to 'unhealthy betting' as a key culprit. Major tennis governing bodies moved to combat online abuse and published last year a report that attributed nearly half of abusive social media posts to angry gamblers. 'Thank you for pointing out this disgusting behavior,' retired former world 10,000m silver medallist and NBC Sports commentator Kara Goucher wrote on X. 'You are exposing the crap that women go through and will eventually help other women as well.'
