A sports bettor who heckled Olympic 200m champion Gabby Thomas during a Grand Slam Track event in Philadelphia last weekend has reportedly been banned by FanDuel Sportsbook. However, the man in the middle of the controversy claims otherwise.
This grown man followed me around the track as I took pictures and signed autographs for fans (mostly children) shouting personal insults- anybody who enables him online is gross https://t.co/f9a6vPkX0v
— Gabby Thomas (@itsgabbyt) June 2, 2025
In a statement to the Associated Press on Wednesday, FanDuel said it “condemns in the strongest terms abusive behaviour directed toward athletes. Threatening or harassing athletes is unacceptable and has no place in sports. This customer is no longer able to wager with the sportsbook.”
Thomas finished fourth in a 100m race won by fellow American Melissa Jefferson-Wooden. After the race, the bettor posted on social media that he had “made Gabby lose” by heckling her, which made his parlay win. The X user shared a screenshot of his $800 winning bet slip, which showed Jefferson-Wooden winning the women’s 100m over Thomas.
“Don’t choke, Gabby, like you did yesterday,” the man shouted at Thomas as she settled into the starting blocks. “You are a choke artist. You are going down, Gabby.”
The heckler, who claims to operate a handicapping service out of Puerto Rico, told Canadian Running he is not the person behind the FanDuel account. Instead, the heckler alleges it was one of his clients who pays him a monthly US$100 fee for his track and field picks. When asked for proof, he was unable to provide it.
Thomas, who won Olympic gold in the 200m at the Paris Games last summer, addressed the incident on X, writing: “This grown man followed me around the track as I took pictures and signed autographs for fans (mostly children), shouting personal insults—anybody who enables him online is gross.”
I personally have no issue with normal heckling…but if you record yourself breaking a rule, post it online, and there are consequences, I can’t help you 😂🤷🏽♀️ I do draw a line with harassment and hate speech on my family.
— Gabby Thomas (@itsgabbyt) June 5, 2025
Grand Slam Track, the professional track league launched earlier this year by four-time Olympic sprint champion Michael Johnson, reportedly investigated the incident and will implement additional safeguards to help prevent it from happening in the future. “Let us be clear: despicable behaviour like this will not be tolerated,” said Johnson.
