Goodbye Shelly-Ann!
The 100m in the Tokyo World Championship later this month will be Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s final race as she brings down the curtain on an illustrious career. Your correspondent was privileged to be in the Birdsnest Stadium in Beijing in 2008 to see her win her first Olympic gold medal. I was there to see her in 5 Olympics and 7 World Championships. I was in Lausanne in 2021 to see her run 10.60 and was privileged to speak to her afterwards. She told me that night: “I’m walking away with a PB and I’m seriously excited about that, but I definitely think I’ll be able to go under 10.60”. Never getting a 10.5 is probably one of the few regrets she will take into retirement.
She leaves the sport with 8 Olympic medals (3 gold), 16 World Championship medals, and gold medals at World Indoors, Pan American Games, and Commonwealth Games. In Brussels this year, she spoke to a small group of media representatives, reflecting on her career.
She also talked about how vital fans were to her, primarily when they were engaged with what was happening: “in tune, excited, not just there because somebody gives them a ticket or there’s a competition happening and they didn’t have anything to do this weekend…more like I’m going because I want to watch X or I’m going because I want to cheer for Y. That adds to the excitement for us athletes. I don’t want to go to a stadium if it’s dead and boring. I want to go there, and when they announce my name, they scream and they’re excited, and I feel somebody’s here to watch me. So that makes me feel excited”.
When I had a chance to ask my question, I took her back to the 2008 Olympics. I wondered what the 21-year-old Shelly-Ann Fraser might have expected from the career that lay ahead of her. She told me, “When I went into the 2008 Olympics, I really didn’t know who I was at that time. And I was so unsure of what I really wanted to do. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, I didn’t have high expectations. My goals were very low, and I was just happy to make the finals; if I got a medal, I’d be excited. However, over the years that followed 2008, I became increasingly aware of who I am and what I wanted, and I gained confidence in that.
“I definitely think that evolution has created a confident woman, who’s driven and who just doesn’t really care for the opinions of others, because I find that even when I had my son, there are a lot of people who thought that having a baby and coming back was not going to be good. Or turning 30 and even 35… So, I mean, for me personally, I think that over the years, I’ve been able to really push the boundaries of what’s possible. From a mental standpoint, I’ve broken down barriers, because sometimes our minds can be barriers that limit us to what we can achieve. So, I’m grateful that I was able to do things on their own terms and really push the boundaries of what’s possible, and I think you do get rewards for yourself. But I think as well you leave a legacy for athletes who are going to come after you”.
She was also asked what the secret to her longevity was. She laughed: “I wish I had a secret! I mean, apart from saying God is good because I can’t make this up. I’m still very passionate and competing at a high level. It’s no secret that one must be disciplined. You have to work hard. And I think the fundamental or the primary thing right now for me is that I still enjoy what I do, and I think that’s the greatest feeling because I’m not waking up in the morning and being like ‘Oh bummer, I have to go to training’. There’s still a level of excitement because I still want to see what’s possible, and last year was not a year I envisioned would happen in a million years. It was so heartbreaking, and it was such an anticlimax, having to walk away from something that I’ve worked so hard for, to really dig myself out of a hole to come back for Paris. And I was in great shape in Paris. And I didn’t get to do that, and I think for me, all that information that I had in practice also gave me the confidence to be here today and to continue because there’s still joy. I’m still working hard. I’m still enjoying it. I’m still running great in practice. There’s still that competitiveness that’s still that hunger, so I’m really just thrilled that I’m able to still compete at this level at this stage of life”.
SAFP has contributed to the sport in this way. She is so engaging in her interactions with people. She will be missed.
