'Doping coaches should be banned for life' - Gabby Thomas speaks in favour of lifetime bans amid increasing scandals

Triple Olympic champion Gabby Thomas has spoken out in favour of lifetime bans for coaches whose athletes are caught for doping offenses by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).

The American sprint queen made this strong stance with a note on her Instagram story.

“Doping coaches should be banned for life from coaching in the sport. Whether you were banned while competing as an athlete or caught distributing as a coach (for some, both)."

She further added: "Idc idc idc If you train under a coach who is known for doping (once, twice, or even three times for some), you are complicit. That’s my stance.”

Thomas will later back up her statement with a tweet on her X page, writing:

"When I graduated from college, I came into this sport sooo naive. After six years, I just want better for athletes. We deserve it. My goal is to leave this sport better than I found it."

Thomas is one of the highly respected names in track and field, who has succeeded in the sport and off it as a medical practitioner.

At the Paris Olympic Games, she was crowned the undisputed sprint queen after winning three gold medals in the 200m, 4x400m, and 4x100m.

The 2025 season started on a high for Gabby Thomas, with series of wins in the Grand Slam Track league that saw her on track of having another memorable year.

Unfortunately, her season's decline started when she lost to the world's current most in-form female sprinter Melissa Jefferson-Wooden in her trademark event (200m) at the Grand Slam Track in Philadelphia, and then US Championships, where Thomas struggled to make the team by a whisker after finishing third.

Thomas will thereafter reveal her struggles with a foot injury for weeks that derailed her training progress, hence affected her performances at the US Championships.

However, shortly after the championships, accusations circulated the track community on the Star Athletics training group, headed by Dennis Mitchell - coach of Jefferson-Wooden, Sha'Carri Richardson, Tee Tee Terry, and US men's champion Kenny Bednarek, being an acquaintance of doping after his former athlete Marvin Bracy is alleged to be provisionally suspended by the AIU.

This led to Tee Tee Terry making a tweet and distancing herself from any situation regarding her being a suspected athlete by releasing a statement on her X page.

"Everybody is going to have their opinion’s because it’s sports and that’s fine. However, what y’all are not going to do is accuse me of using any type of substance. Injuries and stuff happen in sports. I have so many hobbies/talents outside of track, and when my time comes to an end I will step away from this sport before trying to take an easy route… and who would be using a substance to run 10.8 please find somebody to play with like I wasn’t a consistent 10.9 runner as a freshman & ran 10.8 in college.. my first year professional and so on," she wrote.

Then she added: "Y’all it’s one thing about ignoring comments, which I can do but accusing somebody of doping is not cool at all. I’ve competed at all levels in this sport and know what it’s like to wait for my time. Been in the testing pool since college and had nothing negative attached to me."

Recently, there has been an increased number of athlete doping cases released by the AIU, and some coaches and their training groups have been hit with rumours of doping.

Two of such cases are former world champion and Olympic 100m bronze medallist Fred Kerkey, who was provisionally suspended for whereabouts failures, and Ukrainian jump queen Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk, banned for four years for Presence/Use of a Prohibited Substance (Testosterone).

Aside from these individual cases, Kenya has been the most affected country this year, with the most popular name in marathon world record holder Ruth Chepngetich being suspended for a positive doping test.