Jamaican 100m and 200m sprint specialist, Shelly Ann-Fraser Pryce, has decided to call time on her illustrious career after she takes to the track for the final time in the summer’s Olympic games.
Fraser Pryce began her adventure into the upper echelons of athletics in 2008 and has never looked back since her first race at the world stage, nicking multiple gold medals and podium finishes throughout her 17-year career.
Pryce, popularly known as ‘Pocket rocket’ due to her diminutive stature and explosiveness, stormed to victory in her maiden Olympic bow with an astonishing time of 10.78s, becoming the first Caribbean woman to win a gold medal at the Olympic games.
The 21-year-old Caribbean lady born in Kingston, Jamaica, showed a lot of grit and technique to win the race. But that was well and truly what was to unfold in an enviable and unparalleled career.
A month after participating in the Olympic games, Pryce would move on the IAAF world Athletics final and hold her race by the scruff of the neck, as she breezed to a 10.94s to win gold.
At this point, Pryce had solidified her status as an A-list athlete in the 100m division for females, and by the time the World athletics championships came around in Berlin, 2009, she was bent favorite to win; she blew the pack away and crossed the finished line in an astonishing time of 10.73s, which was a new personal best set for the Caribbean at the time.
Pryce was certainly a force to reckon with on the tracks, as she continually blew her competitors away to solidify her pedigree as the standard and face of the Women’s 100m.
Pryce would go on to defend her 100m Olympic title in 2012, but was unfortunate to have missed out on Olympic gold in 2016 when she was outwitted by fellow country woman, Elaine Thompson and U.S.A International, Tori Bowie.
Thompson repeated the feat 4 years later in Tokyo, running a record breaking 10.61’s to break a 33-year record held by Florence Griffith-Joyner, leaving Pryce to settle for silver.
However, Pryce was an integral member of the Jamaican quartet that won gold in the 4x100m relay at the event. ‘Pocket rockets’ dominance throughout her career has seen her win 8 gold medals at the Olympic games, including 3 gold, 4 silver and 1 bronze.
Pryce dominance has predominantly been showcased in the 100m, winning more than 70% of her total career gold medals in the event. An illustrious career across different meets saw Pryce win a total of 16 medals at the World Athletics championships, 1 at the World indoor championships, 2 at the world athletic final and 1 apiece at the Pan American and commonwealth games.
The 37-year-old Jamaican has long been admired by various sporting personalities after making a remarkable comeback from childbirth in 2017, and winning 3 world athletics championship medals after bringing forth her son. In an exclusive interview with essence.com, she revealed that her decision to retire after the summers Olympic games is as a result of her desire to spend ample time with her family.
“There’s not a day I’m getting up to go practise and I’m like, ‘I’m over this…My son needs me. My husband and I have been together since before I won in 2008. He has sacrificed for me.
We’re a partnership, a team. And it’s because of that support that I’m able to do the things that I have been doing for all these years. And I think I now owe it to them to do something else.” she told essence.com
“You can have an impact, and it’s important to show people that you can’t be selfish.
It’s not enough that we step on a track and we win medals. You have to think about the next generation that’s coming after you, and give them the opportunity to also dream – and dream big. – she added.
Pryce is holds the record as the oldest woman to win a world title at the world athletics championships, displacing her previous record set in 2019 with her 2022 finish in Eugene at 35.
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Story by: Andrews Sefa Bamfo | univers.ug.edu.gh
