Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (born December 27, 1986, Kingston, Jamaica) is a Jamaican athlete who is considered one of the world’s best sprinters. She won gold medals in the 100-meter race at both the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2012 London Games, and she captured a silver medal in the event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (delayed until 2021).

Fraser grew up in the impoverished, violence-plagued Waterhouse district of Kingston, Jamaica. She was raised with two brothers by her mother, who earned a living as an unlicensed street vendor. Fraser occasionally competed in track-and-field events in primary school, starting at age 10. As a high-school student, she raced 100 meters in 11.57 seconds—a promising result for a 16-year-old girl. In 2007, while attending the University of Technology in Kingston, she improved her best to 11.31 seconds, placed fifth at the national championships, and earned a silver medal at the world championships for her run in the heats of the 4 × 100-meter relay.

Although she was coached by Stephen Francis, who had guided Jamaica’s Asafa Powell to four men’s 100-meter world records, Fraser’s breakthrough in 2008 was sudden and unexpected. At the Beijing Olympics she won gold in the 100 meters with a time of 10.78 seconds. At just 5 feet 3 inches (1.6 meters)—more than 1 foot (30 cm) shorter than world-record-setting sprinter Usain Bolt, her celebrated male teammate—Fraser lived up to the “Pocket Rocket” nickname given to her by a journalist. She secured the 100-meter world title at the 2009 world championships in another personal best (10.73 seconds); she also ran on Jamaica’s winning 4 × 100-meter relay team. Fraser lost most of the 2010 season to a six-month doping ban after testing positive for oxycodone. She said that Francis had given her the narcotic—which is prohibited but not considered to be performance enhancing—to quell pain after oral surgery.

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In January 2012 Fraser married longtime boyfriend Jason Pryce. Later that year at the London Games, she became the third woman to repeat as Olympic 100-meter champion, with another personal best (10.70 seconds). She then competed in the 200 meters for the first time at a major championship and came away with the silver as American Allyson Felix edged her out for the gold. In addition, Fraser-Pryce won a silver medal as a member of the 4 × 100-meter relay.

At the 2013 world championships, Fraser-Pryce won the women’s 100-meter final in 10.71 seconds. Four days later she captured gold in the 200 meters (22.17 seconds), becoming the third woman to claim such a dash double. She then anchored Jamaica’s team to secure gold in the women’s 4 × 100-meter relay. At season’s end the International Association of Athletics Federations named Fraser-Pryce its 2013 Woman Athlete of the Year.

At the 2015 world championships, Fraser-Pryce won gold medals as a member of Jamaica’s 4 × 100-meter relay team and in the 100-meter event, becoming the first woman to win three 100-meter golds in world championships history. At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, she battled through a persistent toe injury to take the silver medal in the 4 × 100-meter relay and the bronze in the 100-meter sprint.

In early 2017 Fraser-Pryce announced that she was pregnant—she gave birth to a boy in August—and she did not return to competition until the following year. At the 2019 world championships, she claimed her fourth title in the 100 meters and was a member of the gold-winning 4 × 100-meter relay team. Her next major event was the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, which were held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There she won a silver medal in the 100 meters and gold in the 4 × 100-meter relay.

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At the 2022 world championships, Fraser-Pryce again won the 100-meter event, and she captured silver medals in the 200 meters and the 4 × 100-meter relay. The following year she missed several months owing to a knee injury. However, she was able to compete at the 2023 world championships, and there she won a bronze medal in the 100 meters. She also was a member of the gold-medal-winning 4 × 100-meter relay. Fraser-Pryce later announced that she would be retiring after the 2024 Games in Paris. She qualified for the 100-meter semifinal at those Games but was forced to withdraw shortly before the race because of an injury sustained during warm-ups.