Five-time world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has revealed that having won a record five 100m world championship and two Olympic 100m gold medals, she is now focused on going as fast she can before she hangs up her spikes for good.
The 35-year-old Mommy Rocket made the revelation recently at the annual Pocket Rocket Scholarship Awards at the Jamaica Pegasus in Kingston where seven new awardees received bursaries and gifts valued at J$190,000, a significant increase over previous years since the foundation began awarding scholarships in 2013.
At the start of last season, after a 200m race at the National Stadium in Kingston, Fraser-Pryce announced that her goal for the season was to run as fast as 10.5 or 10.4s and, of course, win a record-extending fifth 100m title having previously won in 2009, 2013, 2015 and 2019.
Speaking to Sportsmax.TV afterwards the awards ceremony, Fraser-Pryce, who ran a record seven-times under 10.70 seconds last season, more than any other woman has ever done, explained why she was not disappointed at not going faster than the world-leading 10.62 she ran in Monaco on August 10.
“Honestly, I am not disappointed because the conversation I had with my coach before was that to be able to run 10.5 or 10.6 you have to be able to run 10.6 consistently and I think I was able to do that,” said Fraser-Pryce.
“It was almost like second nature, automatic that I could switch on, so now that I have had that work done this season then it’s going back to the drawing board and cementing the things that I have learnt this (past) season and also getting better at some other things, hopefully I will be able to go below 10.6 soon.
“At this stage of my career that is what I am chasing, fast times that is what I am really chasing. I have accomplished a lot of things, I won my fifth world title…and I want to make sure that when I leave I (would have) given everything. That’s just the goal to make sure that the day I depart and I sit at home I would be contented that I gave everything that I could and I left no stones unturned.”
To do that, she said, there are certain things that she must improve for the coming season when she could be gunning for a sixth world 100m title in Budapest.
“Practicing relaxation has been the key and I need to be confident in my technique,” she said. “I need to have that confidence…I need to trust that technique and trust that it is not going to fail me; just making sure that I stay relaxed and execute the phases of the race the proper race all should go well.”