The Genius of Fraser-Pryce

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is a genius – pure and simple.

Fraser-Pryce darted from the shadows of obscurity in 2008 at the Jamaica Nationals, and followed up that result with heart-stopping runs at the Beijing, China Olympics that same year. Her performances over the last five years have singled her out as the most successful female 100m sprinter in history.

Fraser-Pryce anchors in Moscow

In 1964 Wyomia Tyus, competing for the US, grabbed a gold medal in the women’s 100m in Tokyo, Japan. She retained her title in Mexico City in 1968, and also won the sprint relay. Tyus thus became the first woman to retain an Olympic 100m title, but she had no other achievement to underline or back up those thrilling performances.

In 1988, the American jet Florence Griffith-Joyner literally blew away the competition with torrid performances at the US Trials and at the Seoul, South Korea Olympics to score decisive wins. In Seoul, Griffith-Joyner scored in the 100m, 200m, and the sprint relay in fantastic fashion. For good measure, she anchored the US 4x400m relay team to a rousing silver medal win. She was a serious spike churner, and today, a quarter century later, her times remain the envy of every woman sprinter. World record times of 10.49secs and 21.34secs have not been seriously approached. Great as she might be, Griffith-Joyner never retained any of those sprint titles, and she never won a World title.

In 1992 Joyner’s compatriot Gail Devers sprinted to a gold medal performance in the 100m at the Barcelona, Spanish Olympics. She retained that title in Atlanta in 1996, along with winning a gold medal in the women’s sprint relay. Back in 1993, Devers won the 100m World title in controversial style, via a questionable photo-finish, nipping rival Merlene Ottey (then of Jamaica) in the process. She also conquered Ottey in Atlanta in 1996. Thus Devers had become the only woman with two Olympic and a World title in the 100m.

Although another American, Evelyn Ashford, was recently voted the Greatest Female Sprinter of the 20th Century, having set world records and won Olympic titles, she never defended an Olympic title or won a World title. Ashford is credited with breaking East Germany’s stranglehold on the sprints as she singlehandedly dominated all and sundry, starting in the late 1970s. The 1984 Olympic 100m champion was a marvel of consistency, making the Olympic 100m finals three consecutive times.

Re-enter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. She is the only female sprinter to defend an Olympic 100m title and win two World 100m sprint titles. She was unlucky to have been injured and out of competition in parts of 2010 and 2011 also because of an unfortunate IAAF disciplinary action. At the 2011 Worlds she finished a close-up fourth in the 100m, credited with the same time as the bronze medalist.

Her best may lie in the future

Long time nicknamed the Pocket Rocket because of her petite frame and ‘all-hell-breaks loose starts,’ the lightning fast superstar added the 200m to her repertoire for the 2012 London Olympics. She ran gallantly in London and was rewarded a silver medal for finishing second to American Allyson Felix. Behind her were such luminaries as perennial sprint adversary, Carmelita Jeter and two-time defending champion, the redoubtable Veronica Campbell-Brown.

In 2013 Fraser-Pryce showed that her best may lie in the future if the Russian World Championships were a reasonable barometer. Surely then the best sprinters in the world might be running for the ‘lesser’ medals. At the Worlds she easily blew away the competition in the 100m, hitting the tape unchallenged in a near PB of 10.71secs. She was equally impressive in the 200m in the measured time of 22.17secs and to add icing to the cake, copped the triple by anchoring the sprint relay team to win in the second fastest time in history.

At the World Athletic Final at season’s end, Fraser-Pryce took the sprint double, thus winning the overall Diamond League title in both events (an unparalleled feat). She is currently short-listed and should win the coveted IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) Sportswoman of the Year award. Winning four of the last five major 100m races should thus cement her as the most successful female 100m sprinter in history. When one considers the ‘greatness’ of the East Germans in their heyday, the aforementioned Tyus, Ashford and rival Florence Griffith-Joyner, along with, and she has to now be mentioned in the conversation, Campbell-Brown and her great mentor and friend, Merlene Ottey, Fraser-Pryce has made her point in a very short time.

In a recent interview Fraser-Pryce noted that after taking the triple at the Worlds this summer, some of her competitors suggested she might have taken performance-enhancing substances. But she is nothing if not a hard worker: “I have not done anything that nobody else has never done before, apart from winning three gold medals, but it was just hard work,” she said. “The times were not ridiculous; it was just very good execution. I am a very good starter.”

Truth in her assessment

There is every truth in Fraser-Pryce’s assessment. In the late 1980s women had started to run sub 22.00secs over 200m. And 10.90secs for 100m were even more commonplace as athletes had begun to take advantage of new and additional training and fitness methods.

Fraser-Pryce’s best times are 10.70secs and 22.12secs – not a threat to either world record, so her runs are in keeping with improvements in her training regimen. And she is correct the times are great but not otherworldly.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is not given the commendation she deserves but doubtless to say, she is a special talent who continues to blaze a trail.

Quiet everyone! Sit back and watch a genius at work.