Jamaican dash legend Hon. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce returned house to a hero’s welcome Monday (Sept. 22), utilizing the event to encourage younger athletes to pursue their goals with dedication and perseverance as she formally closed the curtain on her historic worldwide profession.
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Talking at a welcome reception at Norman Manley Worldwide Airport, the five-time 100-metre world champion urged aspiring athletes to remain robust and fearless, even within the face of obstacles.
“Typically our blessings come, however they’re bottled or wrapped in thorns, and a few obstacles and a few hurdles and storms, however they don’t final ceaselessly. It’s as much as us to seek out our method by way of them,” she stated.
Fraser-Pryce returned from the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, the place she gained silver within the 4×100-metre relay—her last race on the worldwide stage. The meet marked the top of a rare 18-year profession that noticed her turn out to be essentially the most embellished 100-metre sprinter in historical past, amassing 10 World Championship gold medals, six silver, one bronze, and eight Olympic medals (three gold, 4 silver, and one bronze).
The 37-year-old, affectionately often known as the “Pocket Rocket,” stated it was becoming to finish her profession in Japan, the place her first worldwide competitors came about on the 2007 World Championships in Osaka.
Reflecting on her journey, Fraser-Pryce expressed gratitude to her supporters and sponsors, together with GraceKennedy and the corporate’s late former CEO Don Wehby. “He would all the time inform me that I’m the best of all time and people are the issues that finally propel you to go ahead, even when issues should not trying the way you need it to look,” she stated.
Fraser-Pryce, who in 2008 turned the primary Caribbean lady to win Olympic gold within the 100 metres and later the third lady in historical past to defend the title in 2012, famous that her accomplishments are half of a bigger Jamaican dash legacy. “As a lot as I’ve created my very own legacy, I’ve partnered with [other Jamaican athletes] on their legacies,” she stated.
Sharing the observe in Tokyo with Jamaica’s subsequent technology of dash stars added particular which means to her farewell. “I’m hoping that with me being there in that second, they’ll really feel impressed to grasp that there’s a lot extra for them to attain… they solely need to go for it,” she stated.
Calling the top of her profession “an incredible chapter,” Fraser-Pryce stated she takes satisfaction in understanding her journey will encourage future “queens of sprinting” to chase greatness.
