Triumph in Tokyo

2025 TRIUMPH IN TOKYO

metre squad. It seems strange and distant now, but there were calls in media and track circles demanding that the unheralded Shelly Ann should be replaced by Campbell Brown, the early favourite to win gold in Beijing. The rest is a story of scintillating performances over the short sprints spanning twenty years, earning Shelly Ann the names “Pocket Rocket” and “Mommy Rocket” from admirers. Fueled more by coach Stephen Francis’ confidence than her own, she lit up the Bird’s Nest Stadium in the 100 final, tearing out of her blocks as if she was in danger. She led the whole way, taking the gold medal in 10.78 seconds and ending the year as world number one in Track & Field News . She won the world championship in Daegu the following year,

then retained the Olympic title in 2012. She would reel off four more 100 meter titles at the World Championships, winning in 2013, 2015, 2019 and 2022. Over the same period, Shelly Ann would also nab four Diamond League titles in the 100 and one in the 200 metres. WINNING, WINNING, WINNING Over two amazing decades of competition, Fraser Pryce has won 13 global gold medals and 11 others and is well on her way to making the 100 metre trip under 11 seconds 90 times. Only two women, the USA legend Florence Griffith Joyner (10.49) and Jamaica’s double double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson Herah (10.54) have ever recorded faster times. And just when many expected her world beating powers to tail off, her best year of speed came

August 2, 2024: Fraser-Pryce clocks 10.92 seconds, qualifying for the Paris Olympics 100m semi-final. She would take no further part in the Games.