Triumph in Tokyo

2025 TRIUMPH IN TOKYO

Shelly‐Ann Fraser‐Pryce

COVER

2022 – A SEASON OF

in the Diamond League, where she finished on top. Shelly Ann had not won the diamond in seven years, and it could have signaled the kind of fall off seen at the end of careers – except for the fact that she dropped her personal best to 10.60 in Lausanne, Switzerland just months before in the summer of 2021. The 2022 season began strongly for Thompson Herah, despite the strong statement of intent made by Shelly Ann in Nairobi, Kenya with a smooth 10.67. But she soon missed several 100 metre matchups, with little word in the public space as to why. THINGS GET REALLY FAST Then, things changed. Fraser Pryce returned to the circuit at the Paris Diamond League in June, where she pounded out an identical 10.67 in a world leading meeting record. The victory at the Stade Charlety also served as a warning shot to the world, as she would reel off an astonishing series of runs between June and September to fully establish her legend. A WORLD CHAMPION AT 35 Arriving in Eugene for the 18th World Athletics Championship in July, the “Mommy Rocket”, as she was now being called, would cruise through the rounds of the

100 along with Thompson Herah and Jackson. Running from lane 7 with her teammates in 4 and 5, Shelly Ann separated from the pack early, with her black/green/ gold coiffure flowing behind her, the two other Jamaicans in second and third. Fraser Pryce hit the line in a world leading championship record; for a third time, she clocked 10.67. Without letting up on her rivals, Shelly Ann returned to the Diamond League in August, laying down an even faster 10.66 to destroy the Silesia meeting record. In mid August, she upped the ante in Monaco with a blistering 10.62 meet record to book her ticket in the Diamond League Final. A week later, amid rumors of a world record attempt, she pulled out of the Lausanne meet with an injury and suggested that her season might be over. But she recovered enough to race in Brussels (2nd in 10.74) and then win the Diamond League Final in Zurich by recording a meet record 10.65 seconds, yet another meeting record and her seventh overseas victory below 10.70. At season’s end, she delighted fans by suggesting that a world record would be possible in 2023.

N ot many female sprinters reach the heights, slide down during pregnancy and then climb all the way to the top again. Almost none are able to clock their fastest career times at thirty five, especially not after winning multiple gold medals at the Olympics and World Championships. This strange career in reverse has been accomplished by one athlete: Jamaica’s Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce. By the time the 2022 season began, Elaine Thompson Herah was firmly ensconced as the world’s fastest woman over the 100 meters as well as the metric furlong. She had won her second sprint double at the 2021 Olympics and picked up where she left off To cap off her fastest-ever year, Fraser-Pryce won her fifth 100m world championship in Oregon (10.67s).