Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce grew up in the community of Waterhouse, Kingston, describing her own family background as poor. Her mother Maxine Simpson, a former athlete herself, was a single parent who worked as a street vendor. Recalling her difficult upbringing, she said, “I suffered from self-esteem issues because I didn’t have the nice clothes and the nice house and had to take the bus. I wanted to fit in and would make up stories just to be accepted, so I can relate to the issues related to poverty.” When Fraser-Pryce started running at age 10, she did so barefoot.

On the eve of the Olympics, Fraser-Pryce’s only sub-11 clocking for the year was 10.93 s for second behind Thompson at the Jamaican trials. Her other posted times included 11.25 s, 11.03 s and 11.06 s in Italy and London. She entered the Olympics as the eight fastest in the world over the 100 m, and decided not to contest the 200 m.

In Rio, Fraser-Pryce was hoping to draw on her experience to help defend her 100 m Olympic title. She qualified as joint fastest for the final with Thompson, posting a season's best 10.88 s. She was in notable pain after her semi-final, grimacing and limping off the track. In the final, she battled to the finish in a season’s best 10.86 s, claiming bronze behind Thompson, who won in 10.71 s, and American Tori Bowie (10.83 s). Fraser-Pryce also earned a second silver medal as part of the women's 4 × 100 metres relay team.

At the Jamaican trials in June 2019, Fraser-Pryce finished second to double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson in both the 100 m and the 200 m. In the 100 m final, both sprinters crossed the finish line together and shared a world-leading time of 10.73 s. Fraser-Pryce’s 10.73 in this race became the fastest non-winning time in history. In a return to form, Fraser-Pryce dominated her 2019 season, running at close to personal best times in the 100 m and winning 200 m gold at the 2019 Pan American Games. However, after her defeat at the Jamaican trials, she did not compete against Thompson until the 2019 World Championships in one of the event's most highly anticipated showdowns.

Fraser-Pryce has been praised for her consistency, winning six of a possible eight global 100 m titles over the span of 11 years. Following her win at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, retired American sprinter Michael Johnson tweeted, "We need to put [Fraser-Pryce's] 100 m career into perspective. 2x Olympic 100 champ. Only 2 other women have ever done that. 4x World Champ 100. No other woman has ever done that. And 100m is one of the most difficult events to repeat as champion! Undisputed G.O.A.T. (Greatest of all time)." Sean Ingle of The Guardian asserted that with her global titles and 13 career performances under 10.80 s (more than any other woman in history) she has a "legitimate claim to be considered the greatest ever." Writing for CNN, Ben Church admired her longevity, noting that her 100 m win in Doha came 11 years after her first Olympic title back in 2008, with her latest time just 0.01 seconds off the personal best she set back in 2012. Following her 100 m world title in 2015, Jamaican track and field analyst Leighton Levy lauded the sprinter's knack for "always bringing her 'A' game" to championship finals: "When you saw how she [competed], you knew it was like everybody else was running for second."

After her 100 m win at the 2019 championships, sports writer Steve Keating declared Fraser-Pryce the new face of track, stating that her "golden personality" and "human interest" resonate with fans, marketers and sponsors. He also mentioned that the birth of her son and her determination to return to the top added a compelling dimension to her legacy.

In 2019, Fraser-Pryce published the children's book "I Am a Promise", based on the life lessons she learned growing up and competing as an athlete.

Fraser-Pryce’s explosive block starts and compact sprinting style has earned her the nickname "Pocket Rocket." Describing her start in the 2012 Olympic 100 m final, David Epstein of Sports Illustrated wrote, “[she] shot out of the blocks at an angle so low, upon replay, it was difficult to believe she actually got a foot out in time to prevent a face plant.” Her “low-angle explosion” was then followed by a “smooth and speedy transition into her drive phase.”

A writer for Nike News described her as a “stride-rate runner" whose game is “bolting to the lead” with maximum velocity and then maintaining her position through to the finish: "[She] knows she’s unbeatable through 70 meters. But between that point in the race and 80 meters is when she’s got to battle to maintain her lead.”

Fraser-Pryce returned to the track in 2018, a year after the birth of her son. She went into labour while watching the 100 m final at the 2017 World Championship, and gave birth the next day via emergency C-section. She later spoke about the challenges with returning to training: "There were days when I was out of it and my stomach would be in pain – I couldn’t [train] abdominals properly. There were days I [wondered if]...my body would be able to allow me to put the level of work in to get it done.”

To help rebuild her fitness and race sharpness, she competed in several Diamond League races throughout 2018. She broke 11 seconds only once, and ended the season with a fifth-place finish at the Toronto NACAC Championships, clocking 11.18 s. Despite expectations that she would retire, she publicly promised a major comeback.

In early 2017, Fraser-Pryce announced that she was pregnant and would not be defending her 100 m title at the London World Championships.

A committed Christian, she married Jason Pryce in 2011, and announced her pregnancy in early 2017. On her Facebook account, she wrote, "All my focus heading into training for my 2017 season was on getting healthy and putting myself in the best possible fitness to successfully defend my title in London 2017, but ... here I am thinking about being the greatest mother I can be." On 7 August 2017, she and her husband welcomed their first child, a boy named Zyon.

With a record three world titles and two Olympic titles, Fraser-Pryce had matched Usain Bolt medal for medal in the 100 m throughout their career. With the upcoming 2016 Olympics, she was delighted at the prospect of earning a third Olympic 100 m title before Bolt (her 100 m final was scheduled to take place a day before his). When asked about the difference in their level of star power, she lauded his contributions to the sport but insisted on more recognition for female athletes.

Despite her intent to rewrite history, her 2016 season did not go as planned after an injured toe began affecting her training and preparation. Speaking before the Olympics, she said, "there's restriction in the movement of my toe, it's inflamed, and it causes a lot of pain. Right now I have a toe straightener on, and I also cushion my toe whenever I'm training." She trained in sneakers (instead of spikes), and ran sparingly throughout the season, even cancelling some of her Diamond League appearances. During this time, her training partner Elaine Thompson was in peak form, clocking a world-leading 10.70 s and joining Fraser-Pryce as the fourth fastest of all time.

I think 2016 was that year that mentally tested me. Even in training there were so many moments I cried, I was angry, I was upset, I didn't know what to do.

After the Olympics, Fraser-Pryce parted ways with longtime coach Stephen Francis, whom she shared with Thompson. Speaking in 2016, he stated, “[Fraser-Pryce] informed me that she was unhappy with the job I had done with her this year...and so she told me that she was going to leave.” However, months later they reconciled.

Despite her success, her profile on a global scale has been largely eclipsed by countryman Usain Bolt. On the eve of the 2016 Rio Olympics, The Washington Post outlined this disparity with the headline "A Jamaican will go for a third gold medal in Rio — and it’s not who you think". In the article, writer Ross Kenneth Urken argued that although she had dominated her sport for close to a decade, her meteoric rise occurred "remarkably under the radar, especially compared with Bolt’s." Likewise, CNN wrote that Fraser-Pryce matched Bolt "medal for medal over 100 m at the Olympics and world championships. Somehow, that isn't common knowledge." In a post-race interview at the 2012 Olympics, she was asked how famous she was in Jamaica. She joked: "I'm famous enough that they ask me about Usain. 'Where is Usain? Do you train with Usain?'."

Early into the 2015 season, coach Stephen Francis decided that Fraser-Pryce would not try to defend her 200 m title at the upcoming World Championships. Speaking at a meet in Paris, she explained that although the 200 m had improved aspects of her 100 m, her coach believed she had lost some of her signature explosiveness from the blocks. As a result, she would focus on the 100 m for the upcoming championships and work on contesting the double at the 2016 Olympics. Until 2015, however, Fraser-Pryce's best times in the 100 m (10.70 s) came in 2012 when she also ran six 200 m races. Her second best time of 10.71 s, which she did twice in 2013 (along with a 10.72 s) came along with ten 200 m efforts.

For the 2015 World Championships, Fraser-Pryce was hoping to make history as the first woman to win three 100 m world titles. There was also speculation that she would attempt to break Marion Jones' championship record (and her own personal best) of 10.70 s. She entered the championships with a world-lead of 10.74 s, and won her heats and semifinals with relative ease. In the final, she took the lead in only a few strides, holding off a late challenge from Dutch sprinter Dafne Schippers to win gold in 10.76 s. Although happy for the win, she appeared dissatisfied with her time, and in a post-race interview, she stated, "I'm getting tired of 10.7s...hopefully in the next race I get the time I'm working for...I definitely think a 10.6 is there. Hopefully I will get it together."

In addition to her two Olympic 100 m titles, Fraser-Pryce is also the only sprinter in history to become world champion over 100 m four times—2009, 2013, 2015 and 2019. The only woman to achieve a "sprint triple" at a single World Championship (gold in the 100 m, 200 m and 4 × 100 m), she is also the only female sprinter to reign as world champion at 60 m, 100 m, 200 m and 4 × 100 m relay at the same time. In 2013, she was named World Athlete of the Year.

A diminutive sprinter compared to her competitors, she relies on cadence and stride frequency (leg turnover/speed) in her races, as opposed to stride length. In her Berlin performance (when she clocked 10.73 seconds), she completed the race in 49.58 strides — equivalent to two metres per step. At peak turnover, her feet struck the track an average of nearly 5 times per second (4.91).

Fraser-Pryce had her most successful year at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, where she completed a rare sprint triple and matched Usain Bolt's sweep of all three sprinting events (100 m, 200 m, and 4 x 100 m). In preparation for her season, she refocused her training to emphasize the 200 m. For her, this involved conditioning, endurance and recovery, but also her mental approach to the longer sprint: "Three seasons ago I had to change my mindset for the 200 and make it more like the 100...I’ve worked harder and harder on it and worked more on my 200 this year than the 100 and have had to develop the same love for both.”

Owing to her achievements on the track throughout 2013, she was named IAAF World Athlete of the Year.

On the heels of a successful 2013 season, Fraser-Pryce made her World Indoor Championships debut in Sopot the following year. Early into the season, she clocked 7.11 s in an outdoor 60 m race in Kingston (Jamaica does not have indoor facilities). Months later in Birmingham, she suffered her only loss of the season to world 100 m and 200 m silver medallist Murielle Ahoure of the Ivory Coast.

At the championships, Fraser-Pryce enjoyed comfortable wins in the heats and semifinals. In the 100 m final, she outpaced the field from the start, powering away to a world-leading 10.71 s, her fastest time since 2013 (Thompson finished fourth). In doing so, she became the oldest woman and second mother ever to win a 100 m world or Olympic title. Fraser-Pryce called her win "a victory for motherhood". Her win marked her fourth 100 m world title and eighth world title overall. She added a second gold medal at the championships by running the second leg of the Jamaican 4 x 100 m relay team.

Fraser-Pryce is known for frequently changing her hairstyle during track season. In 2013, she launched her own hair business, a hair salon named Chic Hair Ja.

After her 2013 season, Fraser-Pryce was named IAAF World Athlete of the Year, becoming the first Jamaican woman to win since Merlene Ottey in 1990. In accepting her award, she exclaimed, "I'm shocked and excited. It's something that has been a dream of mine."

In June 2012, Fraser-Pryce won both the 100 m and 200 m at the Jamaican Olympic Trials. In the 100 m, she set a new personal best of 10.70 s, which was a new national record and landed her at number-four on the all-time list. In her first year contesting the 200 m, she also set a personal best of 22.10 s. Heading into the 2012 Olympics, Fraser-Pryce was aiming to defend her title from 2008 after failing to medal in the 100 m final at the 2011 World Championships. However, she faced strong competition from American Carmelita Jeter, the reigning 100 m world champion and the second fastest woman of all time.

Closing out her 2012 season, she suffered 100 m losses to Jeter in both the Birmingham Aviva Grand Prix and the Lausanne Athletissima, running her last race in August.

In November 2012, Fraser-Pryce graduated from the University of Technology with her Bachelor of Science Degree in Child and Adolescent Development. In 2016, she announced that she would be pursuing a Master of Science Degree in Applied Psychology at the University of West Indies.

Fraser married long-term boyfriend Jason Pryce in 2011, changing her name to Fraser-Pryce. After battling a calf injury throughout most of the 2011 season, she finished fourth in the women's 100 m final in the Daegu World Championships. It remains her only appearance at a World Championship where she did not win 100 m gold. She later ran the lead leg on Jamaica's 4 x 100 m relay team, winning silver.

In 2010, a urine sample taken at the 2010 Shanghai Diamond League meeting was found to contain Oxycodone. Oxycodone is a painkiller that is not considered to improve performance, nor does the WADA Code consider it a masking agent for other drugs. Her coach Stephen Francis reportedly recommended the painkiller for a toothache, and she neglected to properly declare the medication in what she has described as a clerical error. Fraser later stated, "I'm [...] supposed to set examples – so whatever it is I put in my body it's up to me to take responsibility for it and I have done that". She reportedly served a six-month suspension from athletics, resuming competition in January 2011.

Fraser-Pryce has supported many causes throughout her career. In 2010, she was named as the first UNICEF National Goodwill Ambassador for Jamaica on 22 February 2010. That year, she was also named Grace Goodwill Ambassador for Peace in a partnership with Grace Foods and not-for-profit organisation PALS (Peace and Love in Society). She also created the Pocket Rocket Foundation, a scheme which supports high school athletes in financial need.

She has been nominated for the Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year five times: 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2016, 2019.

Now a more confident young sprinter, 23-year-old Fraser followed up her Olympic 100 m gold with another surprising win at the 2009 Berlin World Championships. Going into the final, teammate Kerron Stewart held the world lead of 10.75 s and was the favourite for the gold. However, Fraser's blistering start secured her victory against a strong field that included 2007 champion Veronica Campbell-Brown and 2005 champion Lauryn Williams. Stewart matched her personal best of 10.75 for silver, while American Carmelita Jeter won bronze in 10.90 s. Fraser's 10.73 s improved on Merlene Ottey's Jamaican record (10.74 s) and was the fourth fastest in history at the time. Her win also made her the second woman in history to reign as world and Olympic 100 m champion at the same time, after American Gail Devers. Together with her teammates, she also won gold medal at the championships as part of the 4 × 100 m relay.

The recipient of many accolades in Jamaica, she has won the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association's Golden Cleats Award for female Athlete of the Year four times: 2009, 2012, 2013 and 2015. She has also received the RJR National Sportswoman of the Year award four times, in 2012, 2013 and 2015, 2019.

At the Jamaican trials in 2008, Fraser's surprise third-place finish denied 100 m world champion Veronica Campbell-Brown (who finished fourth) a spot on the Olympic 100 m squad. Ranked 70th in the world, many considered the 21-year-old too inexperienced for the Olympic team and petitioned unsuccessfully to have her swapped in favour of Campbell-Brown. As the rules guaranteed Fraser's place on the team, she went to the Beijing Olympics without expectations: "I went in just wanting to do well. So there was no pressure and nobody expected anything of me and I was able to compete better, relaxed and be my best."

Entering the championships with world-leading times in both sprint distances, she cruised through the heats and the semifinals. In the 100 m final, she exploded from the blocks, pulling away for a dominating win in 10.71 s, a new world lead. Her 0.22-second margin of victory was also the largest in World Championship history. With her new title, Fraser-Pryce became the only woman to win the 100 m twice at both the Olympics (2008, 2012) and the World Championships (2009, 2013). In the 200 m, she again struck gold in 22.17 s, becoming the first woman to complete the sprint double in 22 years. As the anchor for Jamaica's 4 × 100 m relay team, she secured her third win in a new championship record of 41.29 s.

In 2008, Fraser-Pryce was honoured with the Order of Distinction for her achievements in athletics. A decade later, in October 2018, she was honoured with a statue at the Jamaica National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica. During the ceremony, Minister of Sports Olivia Grange said of the sprinter: "She has radiated confidence that lit up the hearts of every Jamaican, causing us to believe we can do it. She has become a model for young girls across Jamaica. She is a one of our modern-day heroes."

Fraser began her career specializing in the 100 m. In 2007, she was part of the Jamaican 4 x 100 m relay team at the World Championships, earning a silver medal by running in the heats. However, she did not qualify for the individual event until 2008.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, OD (née Fraser, born December 27, 1986) is a Jamaican track and field sprinter. Born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, she rose to prominence at the 2008 Olympics after becoming the first Caribbean woman to win gold in the 100 m. In 2012, she became the third woman in history to successfully defend an Olympic 100 m title. After taking a break from athletics in 2017 to have her first child, she returned to the track a year later. At the 2019 World Championships, at age 32, she became the oldest female sprinter and second mother ever to win 100 m gold at a global championship.

Fraser-Pryce's quick accelleration is a unique feature of her running style that has contributed to her dominance on the track. Jon Mulkeen of World Athletics wrote that "her best weapon is her devastating start," while sports writer Steve Landell praised her “uncanny ability to reach top speed quicker than her rivals out of the blocks.” Studying her performance in the Berlin 100 m final, Rolf Graubner and Eberhard Nixdorf wrote, "Fraser-Price had a very high acceleration ability, which is particularly clear in the calculated 30m time of 4.02 seconds – a value that is almost at the same level as that of male sprinters with a performance ability in the 10.40-10.60 seconds range."