Early years Shelly-Ann Fraser was born to Orane Fraser and Maxine Simpson in the
inner city community of Waterhouse, in
Kingston. She was raised with her two brothers by her mother, a former athlete who worked as a
street vendor. A gifted sprinter from a very young age, she started running barefoot in
primary school. Throughout her time at the
Wolmer's High School for Girls, she was uncertain about pursuing a career in track and field. In 2002, she ran 25.35 s to win the 200 m title at the Jamaican Under-18 Championships, and later that year helped the Jamaican junior team win 4 × 100 m relay gold at the
Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships, held in
Bridgetown, Barbados. At the 2005
CARIFTA Games in
Trinidad and Tobago, she won bronze in the 100 m in 11.73 s, and earned a gold medal as part of the 4 × 100 m relay team. . In 2006, Fraser-Pryce started attending the
University of Technology, Jamaica, where she met Stephen Francis. In August, she again won the 100 m at the Stockholm
DN-Galan, posting 11.57 s. At the World Championships in September, Fraser-Pryce ran only in the relay heats, helping her team place second.
2008: First Olympic 100 m gold Fraser-Pryce's breakthrough in 2008 was sudden and unexpected. Compatriots
Kerron Stewart won the national title in 10.80 s and
Sherone Simpson was third in 10.87 s, completing the Olympic team for this event. However, Jamaican sprint darling
Veronica Campbell-Brown, the
2007 world 100 m champion and
2004 Olympic 200 m champion, finished fourth in 10.88 s, failing to make the team. With Fraser-Pryce barely known among the local athletics scene, many considered her too inexperienced for the Olympics, and petitioned the
Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) to have her swapped in favour of Campbell-Brown. She won her heat in 11.35 s, her quarterfinal in 11.06 s, and her semifinal in 11.00 s. In the
100 m final, she led a Jamaican
sweep of the medals, trailed by Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart, who both posted 10.98 s for silver (no bronze was awarded). Her winning time of 10.78 s was not only an improvement of 0.53 seconds from her previous season's best, In the
4 × 100 m relay, Fraser-Pryce ran the lead leg alongside Stewart, Simpson and Campbell-Brown. The Jamaican team won their heat and qualified as the fastest overall for the final. However, disappointment followed in the final when a botched baton exchange led to their disqualification. Fraser-Pryce returned to the European circuit after the Olympics, placing second at the
British Grand Prix in 11.29 s, first at the Athletissima track meet in 11.03 s, and first at the Rieti meet in 11.06 s. She capped her season in September after running 10.94 s to
win 100 m gold at the
2008 IAAF World Athletics Final.
2009: First 100 m world title . At 22 years old, her winning time of 10.73 s made her the
joint third fastest woman in history (at the time). The following year, Fraser-Pryce proved that she was no one-hit wonder by capturing 100 m gold at the
2009 Berlin World Championships. At the Rome
Golden Gala in July, Stewart emerged as gold medal favourite after defeating Fraser-Pryce in 10.75 s, becoming the
fifth fastest woman in history at the time. At the World Championships in August, Fraser-Pryce finished second in her heat and quarterfinal, but came into form in the semifinal with 10.79 s, the
fastest semifinal time in the history of the championship (at the time). Stewart equalled her own personal best of 10.75 s for silver, while
Carmelita Jeter of the United States (10.90 s) prevented another Jamaican podium sweep by beating Campbell-Brown (10.95 s) to the bronze. Fraser-Pryce's winning time made her the joint third fastest woman in history at the time, and shaved one-hundredth of a second from
Merlene Ottey's
Jamaican record. Giddy with excitement, Fraser-Pryce was shocked at her achievement: "Olympic and world champion – can you believe it? Me?" Back on the international circuit that year, she finished fourth at the
Zürich Weltklasse in 11.10 s, second at the
Memorial Van Damme in 10.98 s, and first at the
Rieti Meeting in 11.18 s. She ended her season in September following the
2009 IAAF World Athletics Final, where she clocked 10.89 s for silver behind Jeter in the
100 m final.
2010–2011: Suspension and return In June 2010, Fraser-Pryce received a six-month suspension from athletics after a urine sample taken at the
Shanghai Diamond League tested positive for
oxycodone. Fraser-Pryce insisted that her positive result was due to medication her coach recommended for a toothache, and that she had neglected to properly declare it. Although oxycodone is banned as a narcotic, it is not considered performance enhancing or to be a masking agent. She resumed competition in January 2011, and her track results from 2010 were nullified. Fraser-Pryce married Jason Pryce in January 2011, changing her name from Fraser to Fraser-Pryce. She had a late start to her 2011 season, hampered by a
calf injury that prevented her from competing at the Jamaican National Championships. She withdrew from the
Athletissima track meet in Switzerland at the end of June, and returned on July 19 for the Meeting Sport Solidarietà, where she placed first in 11.11 s. Ahead of the
2011 World Championships, to be held in
Daegu, South Korea, Fraser-Pryce was not considered the favourite for gold, and her season's best of 10.95 s ranked her the sixth fastest of the year. In the
world 100 m final, she started quickly but could not maintain the lead, finishing fourth in 10.99 s, and missing the podium by 0.01 s. Gold went to Carmelita Jeter in 10.90 s, while compatriot Veronica Campbell-Brown (10.97 s) and
Kelly-Ann Baptiste of Trinidad and Tobago (10.98 s) collected silver and bronze respectively. Fraser-Pryce later ran the lead leg on Jamaica's
4 × 100 m relay team, earning silver behind the United States in a new national record of 41.70 s.
2012: Olympic 100 m title defense medal ceremony: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (gold), Carmelita Jeter (silver), Veronica Campbell-Brown (bronze). Beginning with her first Olympic win in 2008, Fraser-Pryce was at the forefront of a sprint rivalry between Jamaica and the United States. At the Beijing Olympics, Jamaica captured five of a possible six gold medals in the sprints, with Fraser-Pryce and Campbell-Brown winning the women's 100 m and
200 m respectively, and Usain Bolt dominating the men's
100 m,
200 m, and
4 × 100 m relay. Jamaica's success continued through the 2009 and 2011 World Championships, highlighted by Bolt's record-breaking performances at each event. Fraser-Pryce's career dip in 2010 and 2011 saw U.S. sprinter Carmelita Jeter rising to prominence in the 100 m, becoming the fastest woman alive (at the time) and clinching the world title in 2011. Fraser-Pryce later described Jeter as one of the toughest rivals she faced throughout her career. Diamond League. Despite a slow start, the 2012 athletics season proved to be one of the most successful for the diminutive sprinter. By June, she was in winning form, cruising to victory at the
Adidas Grand Prix in 10.92 s. Weeks later, she won the sprint double at the Jamaican Olympic Trials in Kingston. In the 100 m, she sped to a new personal best (and world lead) of 10.70 s, which improved on the national record she set in 2009 and moved her to fourth on the all-time list of fastest 100 m sprinters. In the 200 m, she defeated the reigning
world and
Olympic 200 m champion Veronica Campbell-Brown in a career-best 22.10 s. She progressed to the final as the second fastest qualifier behind Carmelita Jeter's 10.83 s. In the
100 m final, Fraser-Pryce was quickest from the blocks with Jeter in close pursuit, and she ultimately leaned at the finish line for a narrow victory to defend her title. Jeter claimed silver in a season's best 10.78 s, and Campbell-Brown earned bronze in 10.81 s. With her win, Fraser-Pryce joined Americans
Wyomia Tyus (1964, 1968) and Gail Devers (1992, 1996) as the third woman to defend an
Olympic 100 m title. Days later in the
200 m final, Fraser-Pryce lowered her personal best to 22.09 s. Fraser-Pryce later earned a second silver medal in the
4 × 100 m relay, running alongside Campbell-Brown, Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart. Overall,
Jamaica had another strong showing in athletics at the 2012 Olympics. In addition to Fraser-Pryce retaining her 100 m title, Bolt also continued his winning streak in the men's events, leading a top-two finish for Jamaica in the
100 m final, a sweep of the podium in the
200 m final, and a new world record in the
4 × 100 m relay. Following the Olympics, Fraser-Pryce closed out her season by taking the 100 m title at the
2012 Diamond League.
2013: Triple gold and IAAF World Athlete of the Year In 2013, Fraser-Pryce continued to show her consistency when she became the first woman to sweep the 100 m, 200 m and 4 × 100 m at a single
World Championship. Fraser-Pryce attributed her successful year to an increase in focus on her track career (after finishing school in November 2012) She admitted to previously "hating" the longer sprint, and was hesitant to fully embrace the title of a "100 m/200 m sprinter." At the World Championship, held in
Moscow, Fraser-Pryce dominated her 100 m heat and semi-final. Her winning margin of 2.2 m ahead of silver medallist
Murielle Ahouré of the
Ivory Coast (10.93 s) was the largest in World Championship history. Defending world champion Carmelita Jeter, the best placed of the four Americans in the final, collected bronze in 10.94 s. In the
world 200 m final, Fraser-Pryce's eagerly-awaited showdown with three-time world champion and reigning Olympic champion Allyson Felix failed to materialise, as the American fell to the track early in the race with a hamstring injury. Fraser-Pryce led from the gun, claiming her first global title in this event in 22.17 s. Later, as the anchor for Jamaica's
4 × 100 m relay team, she completed a hat trick of world titles in a new
championship record of 41.29 s. Fraser-Pryce registered the three fastest 100 m times of 2013 and the two fastest in the 200 m. She is the second Jamaican woman to win this award after Merlene Ottey in 1990.
2014: World indoor champion and injury On the heels of a successful 2013 season, Fraser-Pryce made her
World Indoor Championships debut in
Sopot, Poland in March 2014. In
the 60 m final, she had her usual quick start and finished ahead of Ahouré in a world-leading 6.98 s. Her winning time, which she achieved with no specific preparation for the 60 m, was the fastest at the championships since 1999, and the
seventh fastest in history at the time. In claiming gold, she gave Jamaica its fourth 60 m win in the 16-year history of the biennial championships. However, she struggled with
shin splints for the rest of her season, resulting in poor showings on the international circuit. Later that month, she competed in the
4 × 200 m relay at the
IAAF World Relays, where the Jamaican team finished third in 1:30.04 s, behind the United States (1:29.45 s) and Great Britain (1:29.61 s). In June, she again withdrew from the Adidas Grand Prix, and returned to the track in July at the
Glasgow Grand Prix, where she ran 11.10 s for second place in the 100 m.
2015: Third 100 m world title against Dutch sprinter
Dafne Schippers (centre) and
Tori Bowie of the U.S. In 2015, Fraser-Pryce decided not to defend her 200 m title at the
Beijing World Championships, opting instead to focus on the 100 m for the season. As part of her preparation for the Rio Olympics in 2016, she wanted to prioritize the 100 m for the 2015 season to sharpen her technique. In the 100 m, she started the season strong, setting an early world lead of 10.81 s at the Prefontaine Classic in May. At the World Championships in August, Fraser-Pyrce posted 10.88 s in her 100 m heat, then 10.82 s to win her semifinal. In the
100 m final, she got her trademark start and sped to a record third world title in 10.76 s, adding to her triumphs in Berlin (2009) and Moscow (2013). American
Tori Bowie earned bronze in 10.86 s. Days after her historic win, Fraser-Pryce anchored the women's
4 × 100 m relay team, consisting of Veronica Campbell-Brown,
Natasha Morrison and newcomer
Elaine Thompson, to gold. In a dominant run of form, Fraser-Pryce went undefeated in ten of her eleven 100 m races throughout 2015.
2016: Injury, Rio Olympics and brief split from coach By 2016, Fraser-Pryce had won 100 m gold at the past two Olympics (2008, 2012) and at three of the past four World Championships (2009, 2013, 2015), becoming the most decorated female sprinter ever in this event. Unable to run in
spikes, she withdrew from several events earlier in the year. In her season opener at the Prefontaine Classic in May, she finished last in 11.18 s. In the weeks before the Olympics, Fraser-Pryce struggled to reach form, clocking 11.25 s in Italy and 11.06 s at the London Grand Prix. Meanwhile, her training partner Elaine Thompson emerged as the top contender for Olympic gold. In a highly competitive year that saw many of her rivals post multiple sub-10.90 s times, Fraser-Pryce's lone sub-11 s clocking of 10.93 s ranked her the eighth fastest in the world heading to the Olympics. However, she was in visible discomfort after her semifinal, crying and limping off the track. Thompson secured Jamaica's third successive 100 m Olympic gold in 10.71 s, while Tori Bowie earned silver in 10.83 s. Although she fell short of defending her Olympic crown, Fraser-Pryce revealed that she had exceeded her own expectations, describing her hard-fought bronze medal as her "greatest ever." Closing out the Olympics, she collected a silver medal as part of the women's
4 × 100 m relay team in a season's best 41.36 s. After the Olympics, Fraser-Pryce briefly parted ways with longtime coach Stephen Francis, whom she shared with Thompson. However, with no official statement, Fraser-Pryce and her coach reconciled and she resumed training at the MVP Track Club in November of that year.
2017–2018: Motherhood and comeback In early 2017, Fraser-Pryce announced that she was pregnant and would not be defending her title at the
2017 World Championships in London. Despite expectations that she would retire after becoming a mother, she publicly promised a major comeback. However, her early sessions were more challenging than she had anticipated. She was unable to train her core or lift heavy weights, and frequently had to take time off due to the pain. Fraser-Pryce returned to the track in May 2018, nine months after giving birth, winning the 100 m at the Kingston All Comers Meet in 11.52 s. In the 100 m final at the Jamaican Championships, she had a quick start but finished second to double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson in a season's best 11.09 s. In July she took to the international circuit for several
Diamond League meets, all while
breastfeeding for her first 15 months after giving birth. She competed in the
Spitzen Leichtathletik Luzern and the Galà dei Castelli in Switzerland, finishing fifth (11.22 s) and second (11.15 s) respectively. Now self-branded the "mommy rocket", Fraser-Pryce took a more relaxed approach to her training, stating that motherhood not only changed her perspective, but had given her newfound motivation to compete. Although she was optimistic about her return to peak form, one of her biggest hurdles was rebuilding her core strength (hampered by her C-section) to recapture her explosiveness from the blocks. She later competed in the 4 × 100 m at the
2018 Athletics World Cup, helping the Jamaican team win silver behind Great Britain. In August, she ran 11.18 s for fifth place at the Toronto
NACAC Championships, then earned silver behind the United States in the 4 × 100 m relay.
2019: Fourth 100 m world title . It was the first race in history in which two women finished inside 10.75 s; Fraser-Pryce's 10.73 s in this race also became the fastest non-winning time in history (at the time). Fraser-Pryce returned to the top of women's sprinting for the remainder of the 2019 season, running at close to personal best times in the 100 m. She recorded three of the five fastest times of the year, including a 10.78 s at the London Grand Prix and 10.74 s at the Lausanne Diamond League. In August, she
won 200 m gold at the
2019 Pan American Games, setting a new championship record of 22.43 s. However, after losing to Thompson at the Jamaican Championships in June, the two did not meet until the
2019 Doha World Championships, in one of the event's most highly anticipated showdowns. She followed with 10.81 s in the semifinal, the fastest qualifying time ahead of the final. In the
100 m final, she outpaced the field from the start, powering away to her fourth title in a world-leading 10.71 s—her fastest time since 2013. Her teammate and rival Thompson finished fourth in 10.93 s. She took particular satisfaction in her win, calling it "a victory for motherhood," and brought her two-year-old son on her
victory lap around the stadium. Days later, she added another gold medal to her collection by running the second leg of the Jamaican
4 × 100 m relay team, her ninth world title overall.
2020–2021: New coach and Tokyo Olympics Fraser-Pryce kickstarted her season in February on the indoor circuit, winning the 60 m at the Muller Indoor Athletics Grand Prix in 7.16 s. It was her first indoor competition since she won gold in Sopot back in 2014. The rest of her 2020 season was inhibited by the
COVID-19 pandemic, which also led to the postponement of the
Tokyo Olympics until 2021. In August 2020, she ran 100 m times of 10.87 s and 10.86 s in local track meets in Kingston, ending her season as the second fastest of the year behind Elaine Thompson's 10.85 s. In the 200 m, she held a season's best of 22.57 s, the sixth fastest in the world for the year. In May 2020, it was reported that Fraser-Pryce had left the MVP Track Club, and had started training under the guidance of Reynaldo Walcott. Walcott had previously worked with Stephen Francis at the MVP Track Club and was now the head coach at the St. Elizabeth Technical High School. Fraser-Pryce trained briefly with Walcott after parting ways with Francis in 2016, but later returned to MVP in November of that year. Fraser-Pryce opened her 2021 season in late May at the
Müller Grand Prix Gateshead, posting 11.51 s for fourth place in cold, wet and windy conditions. Days later, she placed first at the
Doha Diamond League in 10.84 s. On June 5, 2021, she ran a new personal best, a new world lead and new Jamaican record of 10.63 s at the JAAA Olympic Destiny Series meet in Kingston, becoming the
fastest woman alive (at the time). The quickest 100 m in over 33 years, her 10.63 s improved on the previous national record of 10.70 s that she shared with Elaine Thompson-Herah, and placed her ahead of American sprinters Carmelita Jeter (10.64 s) and Marion Jones (10.65 s). At the Jamaican Olympic Trials at the end of June, Fraser-Pryce won the 100 m title in 10.71 s, ahead of
Shericka Jackson (10.82 s) and defending national champion Elaine Thompson-Herah (10.84 s). In a Jamaican sweep of the podium in the
Olympic 100 m final, Fraser-Pryce finished second behind defending champion Thompson-Herah in 10.74 s. Jackson secured the bronze in a personal best 10.76 s. Thompson-Herah's winning time of 10.61 s was a new Olympic record, a new national record and moved her ahead of Fraser-Pryce as the fastest woman alive. In the
200 m final, Fraser-Pryce placed fourth in 21.94 s, the fastest ever time for that place. In the
4 × 100 m relay final, Jamaica secured gold in a national record 41.02 s, ahead of the U.S. (41.45 s) and Great Britain (41.88 s). At the
Lausanne Diamond League in August, Fraser-Pryce ran a new 100 m personal best of 10.60 s (the third fastest time ever, at the time) to beat Thompson-Herah, whose 10.64 s became the fastest non-winning time in history. Motivated by her achievement, Fraser-Pryce said, “Believe it or not I still have not run my best race. I know there is more to give because I still need to work on perfecting my technique.” Although the U.S. men regained sprinting prominence in the post-Bolt era, Jamaica maintained its dominance in the women's events. Women's sprinting also began to take centre stage in athletics due in large part to the fierce rivalry between Fraser-Pryce and Thompson-Herah, as well as the rise of American sprinter
Sha'Carri Richardson. Fraser-Pryce and Thompson-Herah became the two fastest women alive in 2021, and their performances throughout the season reignited the conversations around Florence Griffith Joyner's long-standing 100 m and 200 m world records. . At the beginning of the 2021 season, Fraser-Pryce stated that she was planning to retire after the Tokyo Olympics. However, after setting new 100 m and 200 m personal bests that year, she decided to put her retirement plans on hold. For 2022, the 35 year old was more selective with her races due to the physical demands on her body. She opened her season on May 7 at the
Kip Keino Classic, running a world-leading 10.67 s at altitude in
Nairobi, Kenya. At the Prefontaine Classic at the end of May, she also won the 200 m in a season's best 22.41 s. On June 18, she ran her second 100 m of the season at the
Meeting de Paris, equalling her 10.67 s season's best from Nairobi. At the Jamaican Championships in June, Fraser-Pryce won her 100 m heat in 10.70 s. However, she skipped the semi-final and final, having received automatic qualification for the World Championships as the defending champion. At the
World Athletics Championships in July, Fraser-Pryce led another Jamaican sweep of the podium for a record-extending
fifth 100 m title. Her winning time of 10.67 s was her quickest 100 m in a global final, and broke the championship record of 10.70 s, set in 1999 by Marion Jones. Jackson ran a personal best of 10.73 s for silver, and Thompson-Herah clocked 10.81 s for bronze. In the
world 200 m final, Fraser-Pryce ran a season's best 21.81 s to take silver behind Jackson's 21.45 s. In the
4 × 100 m relay final, the U.S. team defeated Jamaica in an upset, winning gold in 41.14 s ahead of Jamaica's 41.18 s. After the World Championships, Fraser-Pryce continued her form throughout the season. followed by a 10.67 s at the
Gyulai István Memorial in Hungary two days later. Fraser-Pryce withdrew from the Lausanne Diamond League at the end of August due to hamstring discomfort, and returned for the Memorial Van Damme a week later, where she finished second to Jackson (10.73 s to 10.74 s) in her only 100 m loss of the year. She capped her season at the Diamond League final in Zurich, winning her fourth 100 m Diamond trophy (her fifth trophy overall) in a meeting record 10.65 s. Fraser-Pryce ended the season as the number-one overall female athlete across all disciplines, according to World Athletics. She ran 100 m times of 10.62, 10.65, 10.66, 10.67 on four occasions, and 10.70 s, recording the eight fastest times of the year. She's the first woman to break 10.70 s seven times in a single season and nine total times in their career. No other woman has run sub-10.70 s more than four times in their career. In the 200 m, she recorded two of the ten fastest times of the year (21.81 s and 21.82 s), and was the third ranked female sprinter over the distance in 2022.
2023: Injuries and world 100 m bronze For her 2022 season, Fraser-Pryce won the 2023
Laureus World Sports Awards for
Sportswoman of the Year. She was expected to open her 2023 season at the
Botswana Golden Grand Prix on April 29, but withdrew shortly before the event due to an undisclosed family emergency. In early May, she was slated to appear at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi, Kenya, where she ran her world leading 10.67 s season opener in 2022. However, a few days before the event, she suffered a knee injury during her warmup, and left Kenya to seek treatment. Fraser-Pryce opened her 100 m season on July 20, running 10.82 s at the
Spitzen Leichtathletik Luzern in Switzerland. It was the first world 100 m gold for the U.S. since the late Tori Bowie won gold at the 2017 London World Championships. However, she held on to complete the baton change, helping the Jamaican team of
Natasha Morrison,
Shashalee Forbes and Jackson win silver in a season's best 41.21 s. Due to her injuries, Fraser-Pryce was forced to end her season after the Budapest World Championships. In February 2024, the 37-year-old announced that the
Paris Olympics would be her final Olympics. Battling a long-standing knee injury, Fraser-Pryce remained out of competition for most of the year. In mid-June, she opened her season at the French Foray meet, held in Kingston, winning the 100 m in 11.15 s. She showed improved form at the Jamaican Olympic Trials at the end of June, where she ran 10.94 s to secure third place and an individual spot for her fifth Olympics. In Paris, Fraser-Pryce finished second in her 100 m heat in 10.92 s. She withdrew from her
100 m semi-final after sustaining an injury during her warmup.
2025: Final global championships and retirement In early 2025, Fraser-Pryce announced that the 2025 season would be her last as a professional sprinter. She opened her season in April, winning her heat at the MVP Velocity Fest 17 meet in Kingston, in a wind-assisted time of 10.94 s. At the
World Relays in
Guangzhou, she was part of the Jamaican quartet that won a bronze medal in the
4 × 100 m relay. At the Jamaican Championships, Fraser-Pryce finished third in the 100 m, running a season's best of 10.91 s. On 12 August, she finished fourth over 100 m at the
Gyulai Istvan Memorial in
Budapest, clocking a time of 11.07 s. She also finished fourth at the
Brussels Diamond League, running 11.17 s. At the
World Championships in
Tokyo, Fraser-Pryce finished sixth in the
100 m final in her final individual race. In the
4 × 100 m relay, she won a silver medal, alongside her teammates
Tia Clayton,
Tina Clayton and
Jonielle Smith. ==Legacy and achievements==