Pune, Dec 14: Legendary Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce says she hated being labelled “a great starter but not a great finisher,” and had to reinvent her running style in her formative years to rise to the elite level.
Fraser-Pryce, an eight time Olympic and 17-time World Championship medallist, said she put in a lot of effort in 200m to sharpen her 100m sprint race in which she owns the third-fastest time in history at 10.60 seconds.
“I had to really reinvent the way I ran, growing up in high school to becoming an elite sprinter because how I ran wasn’t ideal, it wasn’t going to make me win races,” Fraser-Pryce, a brand ambassador of the Bajaj Pune Marathon, told PTI in an exclusive interview.
“People would say ‘man, she’s a great starter but not a great finisher’ and I used to hate hearing those things, because I’m like, ‘but I can finish too!’.”
“I had to get stronger in the gym. I had to do more 200m if I wanted my 100m to be better. I really had to put myself out there, challenge myself more and come out of my comfort zone.”
“I used to literally run and fall on my face. I had to learn and relearn how to stay upright, strike the ground, swing my arms and go forward. For me, yes people talk about your height and say ‘oh you’re too short’ but that wasn’t something that I could control.”
‘Never really believed I could be who I am now’
Fraser-Pryce, whose list of achievements include three Olympics and 10 World Championships gold medals, said she did not have big goals growing up in the Waterhouse district of Kingston, Jamaica.
“When I was younger, I never really believed I could be the person I am today. I never saw a lot of inspiration or have a lot of role models and so for me I grew up thinking that things were just not possible for me.”
“(But) once you know your purpose, you’re so focused on doing those things. For me, it’s really the faith and the consistency that has made the difference.”
“For 18 years, I’ve been running and running, breaking records, just defying what’s really possible for elite female sprinters and it has been my absolute honour to have really been leading the charge, of just giving women the platform to do more and to not limit themselves,” she said.
Fraser-Pryce, a.k.a. “Pocket Rocket” who is also the oldest to win a world title at 35, proudly looks back at her career for being involved in so many “talking points” including on her inclusion for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which faced intense criticism.
“I’ve been in the conversations at different points. People talked about you’re too young to go to an Olympic Games, or they’re telling you ‘oh you can’t become a mom and come back to elite sprinting’, or they’re telling you about your age or you’re too old to run,” she said.
She recalled her gold medal sprint in 100m at the 2008 Games saying it was an occasion where she just wanted to be in the finals.
“I remember going to the 2008 Olympic Games and I made the team and we had so many debates back home whether I was capable of racing in the Olympic Games. That was one moment where my goals were so mediocre, I just wanted to make the finals.”
“I was in my room with a couple of my teammates and I started to talk about if I won, what I would do and I was saying to myself if I win this 100m I’m going to jump, I’m going to scream I’m going to just do all kind of things, I’m just going to act crazy,” she said.
“It’s the power of just speaking it and literally, I went to that finals and I crossed that line thumping the sky and doing the exact thing I said I was going to do in the room two days before that finals.”
‘I showed up, no matter what’
She also reflected on her illustrious career with a deep sense of pride, admitting that the reality of retirement may truly sink in only next season.
“When I finally hung up my spikes, it was hard, it was emotional for me because I spent 18 years doing what I love and that 18 years came with success and it came with setbacks and it came with a lot of different things.”
“I tell myself I’m not going to miss it yet because it’s literally like three months that I’ve gone so I think maybe next year, when the track season actually starts, maybe that time I’ll be you know missing it a little bit more,” Fraser-Pryce added. (PTI)
