Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce CD, OD, OJ (née Fraser; born December 27, 1986) is a Jamaican track and field sprinter competing in the 60 metres, 100 m and 200 m.

She is widely regarded as one of the greatest sprinters of all time.

One of the most enduring track athletes in history, Fraser-Pryce's career spans over a decade and a half, from the late 2000s to the 2020s.

Her success on the track, including her consistency at major championships, helped to usher in the golden age of Jamaican sprinting.

In the 100 m, her signature event, she is a two-time Olympic gold medallist and a five-time world champion.

In the 200 m, she has won gold and silver at the World Athletics Championships, as well as an Olympic silver medal.

In 2002, she ran 25.35 s to win the 200 m title at the Jamaican Under-18 Championships, and later that year helped the Jamaican junior team win 4 × 100 m relay gold at the Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships, held in Bridgetown, Barbados.

At the 2005 CARIFTA Games in Trinidad and Tobago, she won bronze in the 100 m in 11.73 s, and earned a gold medal as part of the 4 × 100 m relay team.

In 2006, Fraser-Pryce started attending the University of Technology, Jamaica, where she met Stephen Francis.

At the time, Francis was the head coach at the MVP (Maximising Velocity and Power) Track Club, and had guided the career of former 100 m world record holder Asafa Powell.

Despite encouragement from peers and coaches, Fraser-Pryce was unfocused as a young athlete.

She was often late for practice, and at times wouldn't complete her workouts for fear that she would become too muscular.

Fraser-Pryce began to achieve success on the senior national and international stages in 2007.

At age 20, she was fifth in the 100 m at the Jamaican National Senior Championships in June, setting a new personal best of 11.31 s. Although a fifth-place finish meant that she was ineligible to compete in the 100 m event at the 2007 Osaka World Championships, she was selected as a reserve for Jamaica's 4 × 100 m relay team.

Hoping to gain experience at an international level, she made her debut on the European athletics circuit in July and saw promising results.

She first ran a wind-assisted 11.39 s for second place at the Budapest Iharos Memorial, followed by 11.44 s to win the Meeting Terra Sarda in Italy.

In August, she again won the 100 m at the Stockholm DN-Galan, posting 11.57 s.

At the World Championships in September, Fraser-Pryce ran only in the relay heats, helping her team place second.

She eventually earned a silver medal when the Jamaican team finished behind the United States in the 4 × 100 m relay final.

Despite her initial anxiety towards competing at the World Championships, Fraser-Pryce credited her experience in Osaka for raising her confidence, changing her attitude towards athletics, and for making her much more focused.

An eight-time Olympic medallist, she rose from relative obscurity at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, becoming the first Caribbean woman to win gold in the 100 m.

Fraser-Pryce's breakthrough in 2008 was sudden and unexpected.

She is the only sprinter to win five world titles in the 100 m—in 2009, 2013, 2015, 2019, and 2022.

At the 2012 London Olympics, she became the third woman in history to defend an Olympic 100 m title.

In 2013, she became the first woman to sweep the 100 m, 200 m and 4 × 100 m at the same World Championship, and was voted the IAAF World Athlete of the Year.

She also won the 60 m world indoor title in 2014, becoming the first ever female athlete to hold world titles in all four sprint events at the same time.

A dominant force in women's sprinting, Fraser-Pryce has won more individual global sprint titles than any other female sprinter in history,

and is the most decorated 100 m sprinter of all time.

Nicknamed the "Pocket Rocket" for her petite stature and explosive block starts, her personal best of 10.60 seconds makes her the third fastest woman ever.

In 2022, CBC Sports recognized her as the greatest 100 m sprinter of all time, while many sources, including Athletics Weekly, described her as the greatest female sprinter in history.

In 2023, she won the Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year.

Shelly-Ann Fraser was born to Orane Fraser and Maxine Simpson in the inner city community of Waterhouse, in Kingston.

She was raised with her two brothers by her mother, a former athlete who worked as a street vendor.

A gifted sprinter from a very young age, she started running barefoot in primary school.

Throughout her time at the Wolmer's High School for Girls, she was uncertain about pursuing a career in track and field.

However, she was active on the youth athletics scene, competing in the famous Inter-Secondary Schools Boys and Girls Championships (known locally as "Champs"), and winning 100 m bronze at age 16.

After injury affected her season, she won bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Her win in 2019 made her the first mother in 24 years to claim a global 100 m title, while her win in 2022 at age 35 made her the oldest sprinter ever to become world champion.

Thirteen years after her first Olympic win, she won a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, becoming the first athlete to medal in the 100 m at four consecutive Olympic Games.

At the biennial World Athletics Championships, Fraser-Pryce is one of the most decorated athletes in history, winning ten gold, five silver medals and a bronze.