Jamaica track and field star, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, does not anticipate that age will be a barrier to achieving success when the 2021 Olympics finally rolls around.
At 34, Fraser-Pryce will be one of the oldest women lined up to face the starter's gun, should the event eventually be staged in Tokyo later this year. The 32nd Olympiad was initially slated to be staged last summer but was postponed due to the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic.
The postponement of the quadrennial event has meant another year of training and preparation for some legendary athletes facing another race, the one against time. The situation will not be an entirely new one for nine-time World champion and two-time Olympic champion Fraser-Pryce. In 2019, at the age of 32, she became the oldest female sprinter to win a 100m world title. In that event, by comparison, silver medalist, Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith was nine years her junior. Showing herself to be very much at the top of her game in 2020, however, despite the havoc the global pandemic wrought on the international schedule, Fraser-Pryce is clearly in the mood to defy the odds yet again.
“Yes, I’m 33, but if I can come back from having my son and be able to stand on the podium, my age is not going to stop me. I’m still going to work hard. I’m still going to be committed and I’m grateful for the years of experience I’ve had,” Fraser-Pryce told the BBC.
"I'm probably older than most of the women in the race but so what? I'm just focusing on getting the job done and being happy."