'Total Game Changer' - Gabby Thomas Reveals How New Balance Got Her Loyalty

Olympic 200m champion Gabby Thomas has opened up about how she got signed up with New Balance as sponsor.

Thomas, 28, who bagged three gold medals at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024, added that inking a deal with New Balance was the turning point in her career.

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Finding a sponsor at the initial stage of one's career is always the hardest thing any athlete can imagine about but for Gabby to get the opportunity early on was a blessing in disguise.

Gabby, who was born in Georgia and raised in Massachusetts, emphasized that aligning with the brands demands also aided her transformation, after she has won life-changing career medals.

“My New Balance partnership was my first sponsor, and it was a total game-changer…Signing with them wasn’t just about a paycheck either, it was about aligning with a brand that truly believed in me from day one,” she told Essentially Sports.

The Tokyo Olympics 200m bronze medallist is grateful that New Balance funded her University education too, having graduated with a master of public health degree in Epidemiology.

"New Balance saw me as more than an athlete; they invested in my higher education, they leaned into my interests outside of sport, and gave me opportunities to be vocal about causes that I cared about — all while providing me with the resources I needed to train at the elite level.

"So New Balance not only helped me make it to the Olympics, but they also helped set me up for a successful career beyond track.” 

In 2018, New Balance signed Gabby Thomas to a multi-year endorsement deal, and just like that, the game shifted.

Her training gear was upgraded to the Vazee Sigma and Vazee Verge for competition, and the Fresh Foam 890 and 1400v4 for the daily grind. More than that, she joined a high-powered roster with the likes of Vernon Norwood and Trayvon Bromell.

But it wasn’t just about new spikes and a paycheck. Now, seven years later, Gabby Thomas is not only a world-class sprinter and Olympian—she’s a role model for what athlete empowerment can look like when brands back their words with action.

Gabby Thomas is part of the Michael Johnson-backed Grand Slam Track event that it's inaugural leg was held in Kingston Jamaica earlier this month. She will hope to medal and win cash prizes in the remaining three legs.

The American will hope to pick up from where she left at the Olympics, with the World Championships to look forward to this year.

The event in Tokyo, September, will serve as redemption for Gabby Thomas to upgrade her 2023 200m silver to gold.