Malaika Jabali (Essence) reviews Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s amazing trajectory. She writes, “Iconic sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce—who will retire after the 2024 Paris Olympics—reflects on the people who supported her historic career and the legacy she aims to leave behind.” For full article and great photography by Destinée Condison, visit Essence. [Many thanks to Peter Jordens for bringing this item to our attention.]
Jamaica isn’t shy about its primacy in track and field. Reflecting the colors of the national flag, there’s a green, gold and black “track” painted on the floor of the capital city’s international airport terminal. And just before you approach the track, you see a painting of history-making sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce hanging on the terminal’s walls. In the portrait, she’s depicted wearing one of her many vibrant hairstyles—in this case blue-green box braids.
In real life, crowned by a more subdued hairstyle of pin-straight black hair that flows past her waist, the petite sprinter reciprocates the appreciation of her home country. Fraser-Pryce has just finished a long day of shooting for this story—yet despite the hours she’s spent whisking in and out of outfits, she can still enthusiastically detail what she loves about the island that raised her. “We have so much pride in our country,” she says. “It’s a community. I’m not talking about one area. The ability as a country to come together, to support our own, is unmatched.”
The sun has already set by the time we sit down to speak—but the sprinter’s energy lights up the room, a photography studio in Kingston. “Everything that we have here is authentic,” she continues. “If Jamaicans love you, they love you. If they don’t like something, they don’t like something. It doesn’t matter how small we are. From small things come big actions. Being from this small island, we don’t have all the resources that we think we need, but we make it work. We have a way of using what we have and maximizing that.” Her sentiment is basically a Black proverb across the globe; and Fraser-Pryce embodies it fully.
Despite being an underdog in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Fraser-Pryce surprised the world when she bested favorites in the 100m race, surpassing their finish times and becoming the first Black Caribbean woman to win Olympic gold in that category. After the race, which has now become her signature event, Fraser-Pryce learned a lesson that would carry her for the rest of her storied career: Never underestimate yourself. “I undervalued myself going into Beijing,” she recalls. “I just wanted to make the finals. But when I crossed the line in first place, from that moment, I’ve never undervalued myself. I’m not just here for participation. I’m here to win.”
That competitive spirit revealed itself when she was a child. “I grew up with all boys,” she says. “It was always my brother and my cousins, always outside.” When the boys were flying kites, she was flying kites. When they were going to the river, she was going to the river. “You’re rolling tires down the street? I want to be inside the tire,” she recalls, laughing. “Being fierce for competition is not necessarily about anyone else. It’s just me.”
Beyond the familial inspiration, she says, her circumstances also shaped her path. “Being from the inner city, that’s how I survived,” she explains. “When I look back, I can see [that my environment] cultivated the person who I am. I’m strong. Determined. I’m persistent.”
Promising American sprinters often perfect their craft on high-tech tracks, but many upstart Jamaican runners have trained on dirt. During the COVID lockdowns, Fraser-Pryce returned to a dirt track, which took a toll on her body. Still, she went on to win a world championship in 2022—making her the first athlete, male or female, to win five titles in an individual running event.
Fraser-Pryce’s dominance is almost supernatural. She has run at an elite level for over 15 years, almost half of them as a mother. Much is made of her age and her steadfast athleticism after giving birth, but her achievements cannot be overstated. The 37-year-old, who delivered her son, Zyon, in 2017, continues to surpass expectations. The same year she won the 2022 world title, she also won at the Monaco Diamond League—and became the first woman to run under 10.7 seconds six times in one season. Nearly two years later, she’s still excited about the sport. [. . .]
For full article and photos, see https://www.essence.com/of-the-essence/the-right-track-shelly-ann-fraser-pryce
Also see https://apnews.com/article/olympics-fraserpryce-retiring-gold-c3d45fd7c9a61c70b8109b90f055a6df
Malaika Jabali (Essence) reviews Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s amazing trajectory. She writes, “Iconic sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce—who will retire after the 2024 Paris Olympics—reflects on the people who supported her historic career and the legacy she aims to leave behind.” For full article and great photography by Destinée Condison, visit Essence. [Many thanks to Peter Jordens for bringing
