Five-time world 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce believes if she can have a race on Friday where everything comes together, getting below 10.6 is possible.
The 35-year-old Jamaican has run a record six times below 10.70 so far this season with a seventh on the cards when she lines up against a stacked field that includes compatriots Elaine Thompson-Herah and Shericka Jackson in the blue-riband sprint at the Athletissima Diamond League meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland on Friday.
It was at Lausanne in 2021 where she ran a lifetime best of 10.60.
Speaking at the pre-meet press conference on Thursday, the fastest woman in the world this year said her extraordinary consistency this season has been the result of constant practice and trust in her improved technique.
“When I started the season, I ran 10.6 in Kenya and I was shocked because I travelled all the way from Kingston and I was a bit tired but my execution was good and I realized the key to running fast and having consistent times is making sure I practice my technique,” she said, “and then to be able to have that consistency is wonderful and it shows that your hard work and staying true to your technique actually works.”
Since her last race in Monaco on August 10, when she ran a world-leading 10.62, Fraser-Pryce spent the last two weeks enjoying a bit of downtime celebrating the birthdays of her son Zyon and her husband Jason, as well as getting in some practice before taking on the final Diamond League races of the season.
Now back in Europe for the culmination of a long season and an eye on a fifth Diamond League title, the two-time Olympic champion, believes she still has a faster time in her tiring legs.
In May, she revealed that she was targeting 10.5 or 10.4 before the end of the 2021/2022 season. On Thursday, she said she doesn’t need a perfect race for that to happen.
“I don’t think a perfect race exists because there is always something but I want to have one of those races that everything works together or something that doesn’t work I am able to counter that at 60 or 70 so watching the races and having my coach telling me what’s happening, if I am able to fix or tweak a few things then I will be able to run faster than 10.6,” she said.
In addition to her compatriots, Fraser-Pryce will be lining up in the 100m against Africa’s fastest woman Marie Jose Ta Lou, European 100m silver medallist Majinga Kambundji as well as Americans Twanisha Terry, Aleia Hobbs and Tamari Davis.
Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.
Hydel successfully defends High School Girls Championships of America 4x100m title
Hydel High successfully defended their High School Girls Championships of America 4x100m relay title, as Jamaican schools swept the podium on day two of the 128th Penn Relays at the Franklin Field in Philadelphia on Friday.
The team comprising Shemonique Hazel, Alliah Baker, Shania Myers and Jody-Ann Daley, clocked 44.71s in victory, as they fended off the challenge of Edwin Allen’s quartet Trezeguet Taylor, Theianna-Lee Terrelonge, Renecia Edwards and Jounee Armstrong of Edwin Allen, who clocked 44.96s. St Jago's team of Briana Campbell, Adora Campbell, Bryana Davidson and Quanna Walker, placed third in 45.14s.
Hydel’s captain Baker beamed with delight at the feat.
“We came out here to win and we executed we always say that we are one team, we are here for each other and so we just came out and delivered. We were confident, so we just told each other to stay calm and trust God,” she said shortly after the race.
Munro’s Hendricks, JC’s Penn, Israel secure victories on day two at Penn Relays
Munro College’s Chad Hendricks and JC’s Chavez Penn and Balvin Israel all secured wins on day two of the 128th Penn Relays at Franklin Field in Philadelphia on Friday.
Hendricks, a silver medallist at both the ISSA Boys and Girls Championships and the Carifta Games, threw an excellent 66.17m to take top spot in the High School Boys’ discus ahead of Bergen Catholic’s Benjamin Shue (61.55m) and Christian Brothers’ Ashton Hearn (58.42m).
Penn, who won the high jump and triple jump double at both the ISSA Boys and Girls Championships and Carifta Games, produced 15.38m to comfortably win the triple jump ahead of Wolmer’s Boys’ Nicardo Grey-Clarke (14.52m) and Cornwall College’s Obrien Bowen (14.49m).
Israel added to his long jump gold medal at Champs with 7.24m to take top spot Friday. KC’s Nathan Wade, who took silver at Champs, was once again second with 7.09m while Calvert Hall College’s Antoine McNair Jr was third with 7.09m.
Excelsior headlines finalists for Boys Championships of America 4x100m final at Penn Relays
A host of Jamaican schools will line up in the final of the High School Boys Championships of America 4x100m final, as they successfully navigated the qualifiers on day two of the 128th Penn Relays at the Franklin Field in Philadelphia on Friday.
Leading the qualifiers was the Excelsior quartet of Ryeem Walker, Damor Miller, Malike Nugent and Lennon Green, which clocked a brisk 40.62 seconds to top their heat.
They will be joined by local rivals Kingston College (41.30s), St Jago (41.35s), St George’s College (41.42s), Calabar High (41.70s) and Jamaica College (41.73s), and Wolmer’s Boys (41.84s). The other two lanes in the medal event will be occupied by Washington DC-based Archbishop John Carroll (41.49s) and Virginia-based West Springfield (41.77s).
Meanwhile, the High School Boys International final, also scheduled for Saturday, will see six Jamaican schools going up against those from Trinidad and Tobago, St Vincent and the Grenadines and The Bahamas, respectively.
St Elizabeth Technical (STETHS) headlines that field, after they posted the fastest qualifying time of 42.26s, followed by Cornwall College (42.53s) and the Bahamian school Queens College (42.61s). St Benedict’s, of out the twin island republic, and Munro College, both clocked 42.83s, while St Vincent Grammar (43.11s), Petersfield (43.14s), St Catherine (43.26s) and Vere Technical (43.55s), are the other qualifiers.
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