Latest news with #Jefferson-Wooden
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
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.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
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 towards Thomas made her lose the race and including 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 harrassing 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.
RTHK
3 days ago
- Sport
- RTHK
Jefferson-Wooden scorches to 100m win at track meet
Jefferson-Wooden scorches to 100m win at track meet Jefferson-Wooden set the world lead with her 10.73-second 100m dash. Photo: AFP US sprinter Melissa Jefferson-Wooden clocked a world-leading 10.73sec as she stormed to an emphatic victory in the 100m at the Philadelphia Grand Slam Track meeting. The 24-year-old from South Carolina, a bronze medallist in the 100m at the Paris Olympics last year, scorched home ahead of Tamari Davis, who was second in 11.03sec. Thelma Davies was third in 11.14sec while Olympic 200m gold medallist Gabby Thomas – beaten by Jefferson-Wooden in Saturday's 200m – was fourth. Jefferson-Wooden's time vaults her into elite company as one of the 10 fastest women over 100m in history. "It means everything, I've been working so hard for this," a delighted Jefferson-Wooden said afterwards. "I've been learning so many new things about myself the way I go about training, the way I go about being disciplined, even when I'm not feeling my best, " she added. "It's just all coming together." Jefferson-Wooden's time was only fractionally outside Julien Alfred's winning time in the 100m at the Olympics last year, and suggests the American will be one of the favourites for gold at this year's World Championships in Tokyo, provided she qualifies at next month's US trials in Eugene. In other races on Sunday, Britain's Josh Kerr avenged his Olympic 1,500m defeat to Cole Hocker in a thrilling battle. Hocker famously surged past Kerr to claim a shock victory in Paris last August at the Stade de France and take gold. But on Sunday it was Kerr's turn to produce a decisive finish, storming past Hocker in the final few metres to win in 3min 34.44sec. (AFP)
France 24
3 days ago
- Sport
- France 24
Jefferson-Wooden scorches to 100m win at Grand Slam Track meet
The 24-year-old from South Carolina, a bronze medallist in the 100m at the Paris Olympics last year, scorched home ahead of Tamari Davis, who was second in 11.03sec. Thelma Davies was third in 11.14sec while Olympic 200m gold medallist Gabby Thomas -- beaten by Jefferson-Wooden in Saturday's 200m -- was fourth. Jefferson-Wooden's time vaults her into elite company as one of the 10 fastest women over 100m in history. "It means everything, I've been working so hard for this," a delighted Jefferson-Wooden said afterwards. "I've been learning so many new things about myself the way I go about training, the way I go about being disciplined, even when I'm not feeling my best. "It's just all coming together." Jefferson-Wooden's time was only fractionally outside Julien Alfred's winning time in the 100m at the Olympics last year, and suggests the American will be one of the favourites for gold at this year's World Championships in Tokyo, provided she qualifies at next month's US trials in Eugene. In other races on Sunday, Britain's Josh Kerr avenged his Olympic 1,500m defeat to Cole Hocker in a thrilling battle. Hocker famously surged past Kerr to claim a shock victory in Paris last August at the Stade de France and take gold. But on Sunday it was Kerr's turn to produce a decisive finish, storming past Hocker in the final few metres to win in 3min 34.44sec.
NBC Sports
3 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Melissa Jefferson-Wooden runs historic 100m time at Grand Slam Track Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA — Melissa Jefferson-Wooden moved into a tie for 10th place on the all-time women's 100m list by running 10.73 seconds at a Grand Slam Track meet Sunday. Jefferson-Wooden, the Olympic 100m bronze medalist, improved her previous best time of 10.80 from the 2024 Olympic Trials. Now she's tied as the 10th-fastest woman in history globally, the fifth-fastest American ever and the second-fastest active American behind training partner Sha'Carri Richardson (personal best 10.65). Jefferson-Wooden also ran a personal best in the 200m on Saturday, clocking 21.99 and winning that race over Olympic 200m gold medalist Gabby Thomas. GRAND SLAM TRACK: Full Results The Grand Slam Track season concludes with the fourth meet in Los Angeles the last weekend of June, live on Peacock. In other events Sunday, Kenny Bednarek won the men's 100m in 9.86 seconds, shaving one hundredth off his personal best and matching the world's best time this year. Bednarek, a two-time Olympic 200m silver medalist, is the only man or woman to go 6-0 in races through the first three Grand Slams. Jamaican Ackera Nugent completed a sweep of the 100m hurdles and flat 100m by clocking 11.11 seconds in Sunday's flat race in the short hurdles group. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was runner-up in 11.21 against a field of 100m hurdles specialists. It marked her first flat 100m race since 2018, when she ran a wind-aided 11.07 as a University of Kentucky freshman. McLaughlin-Levrone, who won the 400m hurdles and flat 400m at the first two Slams, is likely to switch to the 200m/400m group for the last Slam in Los Angeles. She expects to race either the flat 400m or the 400m hurdles at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships in August, where she will bid to make the team for September's World Championships in Tokyo. In Sunday's 1500m, Josh Kerr overtook Cole Hocker in the final straightaway in a duel between the Olympic silver and gold medalists. Kerr crossed the finish line all the way out in lane six in 3:34:44, while Hocker in lane five was seven hundredths behind. Hocker has finished second, third, third, third, third and second in his six 1500m races since winning Olympic gold in Paris. Nick Zaccardi,
