United States of America's track and field star 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.Thomas, a multiple Olympic gold medallist, took part in a video challenge in which she was asked to identify famous track and field athletes from childhood photographs. Download our Mozzart Sport App for more newsHowever, she was unable to identify Bolt, widely regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time, when his baby photo appeared first.“I have no idea who this person is. Can I get a hint? What country?” Thomas said while laughing during the video.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. ##NAJAVA_MECA_953581##Once she was told who it was, she laughed again and described the photograph as “adorable.”Thomas was able to quickly identify other athletes featured in the challenge, including Keely Hodgkinson, Mondo Duplantis and Sydney McLaughlin. She also struggled to recognize fellow American sprinter Noah Lyles, who appeared in a photograph with his mother.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 Lyles.Julius Yego gifted state-of-the-art present by Hungarian javelin greatThe backlash prompted Thomas to address the issue publicly, saying she was embarrassed by the incident and apologizing to those she had upset.“I want to genuinely apologize to everyone I upset for not recognizing 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,” Thomas said.She explained that Bolt and other black athletes had played an important role in inspiring her throughout her development as a track and field athlete.“I grew up watching Usain Bolt among many other Black track athletes,” she said. “They inspired me and showed my generation of athletes what Black excellence looks like (on and off the track).”Veteran US track star brings an illustrious career to an emotional closeThomas added that she was familiar with both Bolt and Lyles but simply struggled to recognize them as children.“I know what he and Noah look like- their baby photos just stumped me. But they shouldn’t have. I would choose to be black in every lifetime ,” she added.The 29-year-old said she would ordinarily choose not to respond to online criticism, but the volume of comments and direct messages made her feel she needed to address the situation.“I normally wouldn’t respond, but my comments and DMs are being flooded on every social platform. I fear I really upset my community,” Thomas said.While the incident has generated significant discussion online, Thomas maintained that her failure to identify Bolt was not intentional, instead describing it as an embarrassing mistake involving a childhood photograph.Bolt, a three-time Olympic 100m and 200m champion and world-record holder in both events, remains one of the most recognizable figures in athletics. World champion opens up on races he could target in future after dominating 400mHis dominance on the track made him a global sporting icon and a major inspiration for generations of sprinters.
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