The two-time Olympic 100m gold medallist was slated to begin her season at the Botswana Golden Grand Prix on April 29, but withdrew citing a ‘family emergency’, the details of which remain a mystery. However, with the emergency hopefully behind her, the 36-year-old track and field star, said she keen on seeing where she is at this season.
“I am just looking forward to just competing well. I have not run since September last year and it’s a different year so you kind of want to see where you’re at as opposed to last year when I ran a 200m in Kingston before I came here; this time I didn’t run anything so this is me just coming to see where I’m at and having a good time and execute and I am sure it will be fantastic,” said Fraser-Pryce who ran a world-leading 10.67 at the 2022 edition.
Fraser-Pryce, who at 35 won her fifth world 100m title in Eugene, Oregon last summer to become the oldest female ever to win a global sprint title, said she believes she in great shape heading into the meet on Saturday but was quick to temper expectations on what she will deliver on Saturday.
“I am feeling good, to be honest, I’m feeling 21, which is good,” she joked, “but no two years are ever the same so you continue to work and trust that whatever things that you correct in training or things that you are working on that you would come and execute those things and it will all come together.
“But last year, it’s just to build on that, build on the experiences and the moments that I had last year into this year.”
Fraser-Pryce won the award on her sixth attempt in a ceremony in Paris.
“I salute Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce on attaining this global feat – Laureus Sportswoman of the Year,” Samuda said to begin the statement.
The statement continues: “An indisputable sporting asset of Jamaica and the world, she has conquered and continues to conquer horizons with character, graciousness, and abiding humility.
Her indomitable spikes continue to imprint on the track of life a quality that is priceless and will be enduring. Her record-breaking speed continues to represent not only the prowess of athletics but, more importantly, the nobility of the sport.
A fitting honour for “mommy rocket,” she has rocketed into the apogee of the constellation where she continues to build an admirable legacy which historians will inscribe with reverence and respect.”
This is her fourth call, having been nominated in 2010, 2013 and 2016. She has never won the award.
The Jamaican, who celebrated her 33rd birthday in December, blazed to 2019 world-leading 10.71 in winning an unprecedented world title in Doha last September.
At 32, she was also the oldest woman to win a 100m title at the championships that began in Helsinki in 1983. She won her previous 100m world titles in 2009, 2013, and 2015.
However, for all her groundbreaking achievements on the track in 2019, Fraser-Pryce, who will be gunning for an unprecedented third Olympic 100m title in Tokyo later this year, is not favoured to win the Laureus Award.
Tennis star Naomi Osaka leads he female nominees having won the Australian Open last January.
It meant she became the first woman to win consecutive Grand Slam singles titles since Serena Williams in 2015 and she finished the year strongly with victories in the Pan Pacific Open and the China Open.
Also among the nominees are outstanding US gymnast Simone Biles, Allyson Felix, Megan Rapinoe (USA), and skier Mikaela Shiffrin.
Rafael Nadal leads the male nominees that also include Lewis Hamilton, Eliud Kipchoge, Marc Marquez, Lionel Messi and Tiger Woods.
