--- title: "Gabby Thomas wins 100m in Rovereto; ahead of World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest" sdDatePublished: "2026-09-09T13:07:00Z" source: "https://www.olympics.com/en/news/athletics-gabby-thomas-100m-victory-rovereto" topics: - name: "sport" identifier: "medtop:15000000" - name: "athletics" identifier: "medtop:20000827" - name: "sport event" identifier: "medtop:20001108" - name: "sport achievement" identifier: "medtop:20001301" locations: - "Addis Ababa" - "Nairobi City" - "Tokyo" - "Budapest" - "Texas" - "Bryan" - "Austin" - "Rovereto" - "Bexleyheath" - "South-East" - "Île-de-France" --- Gabby Thomas wins 100m in Rovereto; ahead of World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest Athletics: Gabby Thomas powers to 100m victory in Rovereto, looks ahead to World Athletics Ultimate Championship Athletics: Gabby Thomas powers to 100m victory in Rovereto, looks ahead to World Athletics Ultimate Championship The three-time Paris 2024 gold medallist won by two metres in 11.01. She'll head to Hungary, where competition kicks off on 11 September. Reigning Olympic 200 metres champion Gabby Thomas returned to the 100m on Tuesday (8 September). It was her first race at the distance since a busy April, and her final tune-up before she runs the 200m at the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest (11–13 September). The three-time Paris 2024 gold medallist won her 100m at the Palio Città della Quercia, a World Athletics Continental Tour athletics meeting in Rovereto, Italy, in 11.01 – well clear of the field by halfway and two metres ahead as she crossed the line. American Rayniah Jones was second in a personal-best 11.29, with Switzerland's Salome Kora third in 11.31. Gabby Thomas on Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce's legacy and her big plans for 2026: "I'll be back" Gabby Thomas on the power of sport and education: "You can achieve anything" "An honour:" Gabby Thomas follows in Allyson Felix's footsteps Gabby Thomas exclusive: An honour to follow in Allyson Felix's footsteps The 27-year-old sprinter relives her gold medal moment in the women's 200m final at Paris 2024 and shares what it means to her to be the first American to triumph in the event since Felix in 2012. A different approach in 2026: “I’m enjoying having an ‘off’ year” There is no Olympic or world title to build towards in 2026, and Thomas has treated the season accordingly. She told Olympics.com in December she would take a later start to the year and build it around Athlos and the Ultimate Championship. Her freedom this season followed a tough finish to the previous one. An Achilles injury that flared in the spring of 2025 and worsened through the summer forced her out of the World Championships in Tokyo , ending her season before its biggest meet. Her comeback opened at home, at the Texas Relays in Austin in early April, where she ran the 100m and a 4x100m. Then came an African swing. She completed sprint doubles in Addis Ababa and at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi, winning the 100m in 11.01 and the 200m in 21.89. Two days later, in Gaborone, she set a personal best in the 100m, clocking 10.95 at the Botswana Golden Grand Prix. Her fastest 200m running came at the Lone Star Grand Prix in College Station, Texas, in June, at 21.70 seconds. Shen, then, won the Gyulai István Memorial in Budapest in July, leading an American sweep with 21.83. "I'm really happy with where I am at this stage of the season," she said after her win at the Gyulai István Memorial . "This is the best I've ever looked in the middle of a season throughout my career." Days later she was second to Julien Alfred at the London Diamond League , running 21.81 to Alfred’s 21.66. Thomas’ main event in 2026 is Budapest, and the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship. The event runs from 11 to 13 September, and Thomas has confirmed she will run the 200m – her speciality event. From there she heads to Athlos London on 18 September. The pressure, for once, is off. She said as much after her win in Texas in June . "I'm enjoying having an 'off' year where there's not the pressure of an Olympics or World Championships, so I'm just having fun this season."