Never Settle
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. - Hebrews 11:1
Faith operates in the realm of the unseen and it requires a level of trust and hope that can appear to be counter-cultural to society’s standards. However, with faith comes new heights and new opportunities. 24-year old American track-and-field athlete Gabby Thomas was determined to not settle where she was, and now she is headed to the Olympics.
Hailing from Florence, MA, Thomas was recruited to Harvard to compete in the 100m, 200m, long jump, and triple jump. In her three collegiate seasons before turning pro, she claimed 22 conference titles in six different events.
After graduating Harvard in 2019, she was also certain that she wasn’t done running, so she joined the Austin-based Buford-Bailey Track Club, one of the only training groups for Black women, led by a Black female coach. She set her sights for the Olympics. However, Covid-19 caused the Olympics to be delayed. Gabby, not letting any grass grow under feet, and having studied neurobiology and global health & health policy at Harvard, decided during the pandemic to go back to school and get a Master’s degree in epidemiology and healthcare management. She was studying pandemics in the midst of a pandemic!
In the spring, she quickly learned that there was a tumor on her liver. A few days before Trials, she found out the tumor was benign and Thomas said: “I remember telling God, ‘If I am healthy, I am going to go out and win Trials. If this is not cancer, I will make this team.’ And that’s exactly what I did. I’m really grateful.”
In June 2021, Gabby won the women’s 200-meter race, running in 21.61 seconds, making her the second-fastest woman of all time (behind only Florence Griffith-Joyner). This was set at the 2020 US Olympic trials.
Gabby could have settled for where she was at, but she took on each new challenge and she went on to win the bronze medal in the 200-meter race and the silver medal in the 4x100-meter race at this year’s Tokyo Olympics!
The moral is, do not settle! What you are waiting for is closer than you think!
Faith operates in the realm of the unseen and it requires a level of trust and hope that can appear to be counter-cultural to society’s standards. However, with faith comes new heights and new opportunities. 24-year old American track-and-field athlete Gabby Thomas was determined to not settle where she was, and now she is headed to the Olympics.
Hailing from Florence, MA, Thomas was recruited to Harvard to compete in the 100m, 200m, long jump, and triple jump. In her three collegiate seasons before turning pro, she claimed 22 conference titles in six different events.
After graduating Harvard in 2019, she was also certain that she wasn’t done running, so she joined the Austin-based Buford-Bailey Track Club, one of the only training groups for Black women, led by a Black female coach. She set her sights for the Olympics. However, Covid-19 caused the Olympics to be delayed. Gabby, not letting any grass grow under feet, and having studied neurobiology and global health & health policy at Harvard, decided during the pandemic to go back to school and get a Master’s degree in epidemiology and healthcare management. She was studying pandemics in the midst of a pandemic!
In the spring, she quickly learned that there was a tumor on her liver. A few days before Trials, she found out the tumor was benign and Thomas said: “I remember telling God, ‘If I am healthy, I am going to go out and win Trials. If this is not cancer, I will make this team.’ And that’s exactly what I did. I’m really grateful.”
In June 2021, Gabby won the women’s 200-meter race, running in 21.61 seconds, making her the second-fastest woman of all time (behind only Florence Griffith-Joyner). This was set at the 2020 US Olympic trials.
Gabby could have settled for where she was at, but she took on each new challenge and she went on to win the bronze medal in the 200-meter race and the silver medal in the 4x100-meter race at this year’s Tokyo Olympics!
The moral is, do not settle! What you are waiting for is closer than you think!
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