Gabby Thomas is turning to fans for advice about a “scary” stalking situation involving a group of middle-aged men.
The Olympic sprinter, 28, told fans in a selfie video on TikTok that a group of “three to six” men have been following her to airports in multiple cities around the United States. The men, added Thomas, have become “aggressive and hostile” with her when she’s refused to sign images of herself for them.
“I need some advice right now because I fear I’m being stalked and I genuinely don’t know what to do or who to go to,” Thomas said in her Jan. 28 video. “At this point, every time that I travel, I’m afraid that these men — it’s three to six of them, middle-aged — are going to show up and harass me.”
Thomas said it “doesn’t matter” what city she travels to, the men always seem to know her itinerary. “They’ve come when I was traveling to and from Chicago, they’ve come when I’m traveling to and from Miami, and they have my flight information,” she said.
“They show up either at the front door of the airport, at the correct concourse or they show up at my gate, which means they have flight tickets and they get past security,” added the athlete, who won three gold medals at the 2024 Paris Games.
Thomas said she has no idea how the men have access to her flight information because often she doesn’t know it herself. “I don’t tell anyone my flight information,” she said, noting that she’s changed her email passwords in case her accounts had been hacked.
The men typically carry about 40 photos of Thomas that they ask her to autograph, said Thomas. “I don’t know what they’re doing with them — probably reselling them — I don’t care,” she said, adding, “But they get really aggressive and hostile if I say no.”
Being approached by the men when she’s alone is “scary,” she said, but the group also became aggressive with her boyfriend earlier this week.
“I don’t get why people can’t respect privacy,” said Thomas. “I really don’t get it. I don’t like feeling unsafe.”
Fans and friends of Thomas responded to her video to let her know they were sorry she was enduring harassment.
Fellow Olympic gold medal winner Ilona Maher said the situation sounded “so scary,” prompting Thomas to respond, “These guys are done. Once I figure this out they won’t be harassing anyone else.”
Tennis star Coco Gauff also responded to say she’s faced a similar situation.
“This happens to me, too,” said Gauff. “I don’t know how it happens. My theory is maybe someone at the airport tips them off.”
In a follow-up video, Thomas is at the airport and recording a couple of guys, saying, “These guys are stalking me at the Chicago united airport.”