September 15, 2026
Gabby Thomas apologises for not recognizing Usain Bolt in baby photo
Written byDwight Fraser
Paris Olympic triple gold medalist Gabby Thomas has apologized after facing backlash for failing to recognize Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt in a baby photo during an Olympics social media video.
The American track star took part in a video challenge in which she was asked to identify famous track and field athletes from childhood photographs.
However, she was unable to identify Bolt, widely regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time, when his baby photo appeared first.
Even after being told that the person in the photograph was considered the greatest of all time, thomas could not immediately come up with bolt’s name.
In seeking to make ammends she posted on x ….(quote) .“I want to genuinely apologise to everyone i upset for not recognising Usain Bolt in his baby photo the other day on the Olympics social media video. I shouldn’t have laughed about it either. I am so embarrassed. I promise to unpack this and will do better,” (end of quote)
Thomas was able to quickly identify other athletes featured in the challenge, including Keely Hodgkinson, Mondo Duplantis and Sydney Mclaughlin.
The moment sparked a wave of criticism on social media, with some users taking issue with Thomas correctly identifying the white athletes while failing to recognize Bolt and Noah Lyles.
