Gabby Thomas ran a world-driving 21.94 seconds in the elimination rounds of the ladies’ 200 meters on Friday — and her force extended to Saturday.

Thomas overshadowed her past profession best as she crossed the end goal in 21.61 to win the ladies’ 200 meters at the U.S. Olympic preliminaries. Her time is the second-quickest throughout the entire existence of the ladies’ 200 meters and places her in famous organization. Just Florence Griffith-Joyner’s reality record 21.34 seconds from 1988 is quicker.

“I’ve been buckling down,” Thomas said. “I moved to Austin, Texas to prepare for this. I still can barely handle it. I’m in this way, so cheerful. I’ve been buckling down. I’m truly appreciative.”

Jenna Prandini ran an individual best 21.89 to complete second, and Anavia Battle went too far in 21.95 to complete third.

Thomas, a Harvard graduate, has propelled herself to a serious gold-medal contender in Tokyo after speeding through the preliminary rounds and running one of the best times ever.

“Since coming here my expectations for myself have gotten even higher,” Thomas said. “Now when I step on the track, I do expect to run sub-22, which is something I love for myself and I’m really excited about.”

Thomas has valid reasons to be excited after her performance in Eugene. She ran sub-22 seconds in the opening round, semifinal and final of the 200 meters.

Leading up to the trials, though, Thomas had a harrowing experience.

After winning the 200 meters at the Golden Games on May 9, Thomas underwent an MRI to diagnose what had seemed to be a nagging hamstring injury. The results of the MRI revealed a tumor on her liver”

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“The more and more I spoke to people, the more the word ‘cancer’ was used. I was scared,” Thomas said on social media on June 7.

Thankfully, though, Thomas received news from doctors that the tumor is benign and won’t need to be operated on.

“I am so excited to compete – feeling much lighter with this weight off of my shoulders! One of the greatest gifts in life is our health,” Thomas said prior to the trials on social media.

“I remember telling God, ‘If I am healthy, I’m gonna go out and win trials,’ ” she said.

Thomas did in emphatic fashion. Now she is off to Tokyo healthy and running better than she ever has