Overview

• During last weekend’s Grand Slam Track meet in Philadelphia, Thomas was verbally assaulted by a man as she signed autographs and took photos for fans
• The harasser later boasted on social media that heckling her secured his winning multi-leg parlay on the FanDuel platform
• Earlier this year Thomas revealed on TikTok that she’s been stalked at multiple US airports by men who tracked her flight details and confronted her with stacks of photographs
• Fellow athletes and commentators, including Kara Goucher and Caroline Garcia, condemned the episode and urged sporting bodies to implement tougher safeguards
• A recent report from major tennis governing bodies found that nearly half of abusive social media posts against female athletes originate from disgruntled gamblers