June 7 (Reuters) - Olympic ⁠200 metres champion Gabby Thomas set ⁠a world-leading time to claim victory in ‌the women's 200 metres at the Lone Star Grand Prix in College Station, Texas on Saturday.

The American, ​who won gold in the ⁠200m as well as ⁠the 4x100m and 4x400m relays at the 2024 ⁠Olympics ‌in Paris, clocked 21.70 to finish ahead ofcompatriot Kayla White (22.07) and ⁠Nigeria’s Favour Ofili (22.15).

The time was quicker than ​the 21.83 ‌that helped Thomas clinch Olympic gold, ⁠and just ​0.10 shy of her personal best of 21.60 set in 2023.

“I’m a little surprised by ⁠the time, but I’ve been ​training hard,” the 29-year-old said.

“I had a great little tour in Africa and now the hard ⁠work is paying off. I’m enjoying having an ‘off’ year where there’s not the pressure of an Olympics or World Championships, so ​I’m just having fun this ⁠season."

Thomas missed last year's world championships in ​Tokyo due to an Achilles ‌injury and only returned ​to competition in April.

(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim Coghill)