Monaco Diamond League: Three-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has said that she will retire after the 2024 Paris Olympics as she wants to spend more time with her family.
The Jamaican star won 100m gold in 2008 (Beijing), 2012 (London) Olympics gold medal and Tokyo 2020 Olympic relay gold. In total, she has won three Olympic golds, four silvers and a bronze.
She has 10 world championship titles across 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay events in her 15-year glorious career at an elite level.
“There’s not a day I’m getting up to go practice and I’m like, I’m over this. My son needs me,” the Jamaican, regarded as one of the greatest sprinters of all time, told American lifestyle magazine ‘Essence’.
“My husband and I have been together since before I won in 2008. He has sacrificed for me. We’re a partnership, a team. And it’s because of that support that I’m able to do the things that I have been doing for all these years. And I think I now owe it to them to do something else,” she said.
The 37-year-old, who delivered her son, Zyon, in 2017, continues to surpass expectations. She became the oldest woman to win the 100m world title with her victory in Doha in 2019 and extended that record in 2022 World Championships in Eugene when she won her fifth 100m world title.
The same year she also won at the Monaco Diamond League and became the first woman to run under 10.7 seconds six times in one season.
“You can have an impact, and it’s important to show people that you can’t be selfish. It’s not enough that we step on a track and we win medals. You have to think about the next generation that’s coming after you, and give them the opportunity to also dream—and dream big,” said Fraser-Pryce.
The Jamaican sprint queen, who is currently focusing her on training for Paris 2024, said that this year’s Olympic Games is about ‘pushing boundaries’ and showing people that you stop when you decide. I want to finish ‘on my own terms’.”
