Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce


Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, OD is a Jamaican track and field sprinter. Born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, she rose to prominence at the 2008 Olympics, becoming the first Caribbean woman to win gold in the 100 metres. She followed her 2008 victory with a successful defence of her title in 2012, making her one of only three women to win successive Olympic 100 m titles. After injury affected her season, she won bronze in 2016, becoming the first female sprinter to win 100 m medals at three consecutive Olympics. In 2017, she took a one-year break from athletics to have her first child. At the 2019 World Championships, at the age of 32, she became the oldest female sprinter and first mother in 24 years to win 100 m gold at a global championship.
Fraser-Pryce is one of the most decorated athletes in World Championship history with 11 medals, including nine gold and two silver. In addition to her two Olympic titles, she is the only sprinter to become world champion in the 100 m four times—2009, 2013, 2015 and 2019. In 2013, she became the first woman to win the 100 m, 200 m and 4 × 100 m at a single World Championship. She added the 60 m title the following year, making her the only woman to hold world titles in all four events at the same time. In 2013, she was named the IAAF World Athlete of the Year.
With over a decade in athletics, Fraser-Pryce has won more global 100 m titles than any other female sprinter in history. Nicknamed the "Pocket Rocket" for her petite stature and explosive block starts, her personal best of 10.70 seconds is the joint fourth fastest of all time. She has posted the most sub-10.80 s clockings in history with 14, as well as the second most sub-11-second timings with over 50. Due to her achievements and consistency, many publications and sports analysts have described her as the greatest female sprinter of all time. World Athletics called her "the greatest female sprinter of her generation."

Early life and career

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was born to parents Orane Fraser and Maxine Simpson, and was raised with her two brothers in the violent, inner city community of Waterhouse, near Kingston. Her mother, a former athlete, was a single parent who worked as a street vendor. She was a gifted sprinter from a very young age, and 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 athletics. However, she was active on the youth athletics scene, competing in the famous Inter-Secondary Schools Boys and Girls Championships, and winning bronze in the 100 m at age 16. In 2002, she won the 200 m title at the Jamaican Under-18 Championships, clocking 25.35 s, and won gold in the 4 x 100 m relay at the Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships, held in Bridgetown, Barbados. At the 2005 CARIFTA Games, held in Trinidad and Tobago, she ran 11.73 s to claim bronze in the 100 m and earned a gold medal as part of the 4 x 100 m relay team.
In 2006, Fraser-Pryce started attending the University of Technology, where she met Stephen Francis. At the time, Francis was the head coach at the MVP Track Club, one of two such elite clubs in Jamaica. Despite encouragement from peers and coaches, she was unfocused as a young athlete—she admitted to being lazy, always late for training, and would not complete the workouts because she feared that her body would become too muscular. In June 2007, she came fifth in the 100 m at the Jamaican National Senior Championships, clocking 11.31 s, and did not qualify in the event for the 2007 Osaka World Championships. However, when she was selected for the 4 x 100 m relay team, she cried because she was nervous and did not want to compete. Hoping to gain experience at an international level, she made her debut on the European athletics scene at the Budapest Iharos Memorial in July, running a wind aided 11.39 s. She also competed at the Olbia Meeting Terra Sarda in Italy, winning in 11.44 s, and at the Stockholm DN Galan in Sweden, where she also placed first in 11.57 s. At the World Championships in September, she ran in the heats only, placing second in 42.70 s, and ultimately earned a silver medal when the Jamaican team finished behind the United States in the final. Her experience in Osaka changed her attitude towards athletics.

Professional career

2008–2009: Olympic and world champion

Fraser-Pryce's breakthrough came in 2008, and was sudden and unexpected. At the Jamaican Olympic Trials that year, she ran a new personal best of 10.82 s in the 100 m, finishing second behind Kerron Stewart's 10.80 s. Sherone Simpson finished third in 10.86 s, while the reigning 100 m world champion and 200 m Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown finished fourth in 10.88 s, missing out on a spot on the Olympic team for this event. Barely known among the local athletics scene, many considered Fraser-Pryce too inexperienced for the Olympics and petitioned unsuccessfully to have her swapped in favour of Campbell-Brown. However, despite mounting pressure, the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association upheld its rule permitting only the top-three finishers on the team. Fraser-Pryce recalled being disappointed but mostly unfazed by the backlash, and added that her underdog status worked in her favour: "I went in just wanting to do well. So there was no pressure and nobody expected anything of me and I was able to compete better, relaxed and be my best."
At the 2008 Summer Olympics, held at the Beijing National Stadium, she placed first in her 100 m heats and semifinals. In the final, she led the way to a Jamaican sweep of the medals, trailed by her teammates Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart who both posted 10.98 s for silver. Fraser-Pryce’s winning time of 10.78 s not only shattered her personal best, it was the second fastest Olympic 100 m time in history. Alongside Stewart, Simpson and Campbell-Brown, she also took part in the 4 × 100 m relay, placing first in the heats and qualifying as fastest for the final. However, they did not finish the race in the final due to a mistake in the baton exchange. A month later in September, Fraser-Pryce also took 100 m gold in the IAAF World Athletics Final, held in Stuttgart, Germany, with a time of 10.94 s.
Now a more established young sprinter, 22-year-old Fraser-Pryce reaffirmed her status on the global stage with another surprising win at the 2009 World Championships, held in Berlin. She had a difficult start to the season, taking time off to have her appendix removed in April while also battling an injury to her hamstring. After a fourth place finish at the IAAF Golden League Prefontaine Classic in early June, she ran a world-leading 10.88 s to claim the 100 m title at the Jamaican Championships, ahead of 2008 champion Kerron Stewart. However, in July, Stewart bested her teammate at the Golden Gala in Rome with a 10.75 s run, affirming her status as Fraser-Pryce's main rival for 100 m gold ahead of the championships.
At the championships in Berlin, Fraser-Pryce showed her form in the semifinal with 10.79 s, the fastest ever semifinal time in the history of the event. In the 100 m final, she made a flying start and held off a late challenge from Stewart to claim the victory in 10.73 s. Stewart equalled her own personal best of 10.75 s for silver and American Carmelita Jeter won bronze in 10.90 s. Fraser-Pryce's winning time made her the joint third fastest in history at the time, and shaved one-hundredth of a second from Merlene Ottey's Jamaican record. With the victory, she also joined American Gail Devers as the only women to win consecutive Olympic and world titles in the 100 m. Fraser-Pryce earned a second gold medal in the championships as part of Jamaica's 4 × 100 m relay team, running alongside Stewart, Simone Facey and Aleen Bailey.
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 at the IAAF World Athletics Final, clocking 10.89 s for silver behind Jeter in the 100 m final.

2010 suspension and 2011 Worlds

In June 2010, Fraser-Pryce was suspended from athletics for six months after a urine sample at the Shanghai Diamond League tested positive for oxycodone. Although oxycodone is banned as a narcotic, it is not considered performance enhancing or to be a masking agent. 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. She later stated, " supposed to set examples – so whatever it is I put in my body it's up to me to take responsibility for it and I have done that." She resumed competition in January 2011, and her track results from 2010 were nullified.
Fraser-Pryce married boyfriend Jason Pryce in January 2011, changing her name from Fraser to Fraser-Pryce. She had a late start to her 2011 season, nursing a calf injury that prevented her from competing at the Jamaican National Championships. She also withdrew from the Athletissima Diamond League meet in Switzerland at the end of June. She ran only four races on the international circuit ahead of the Daegu World Championships, winning once at the Meeting Sport Solidarietà in Italy. At the World Championships, she 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 100 m final, she started quickly but could not maintain the lead, finishing fourth in 10.99 s. Gold went to Carmelita Jeter in 10.90 s, while compatriot Veronica Campbell-Brown and Kelly-Ann Baptiste of Trinidad and Tobago collected silver and bronze in 10.97 s and 10.98 s respectively. She later ran the lead leg on Jamaica's 4 x 100 m relay team, winning silver behind the United States. The 2011 event in Daegu remains Fraser-Pryce's only appearance at a World Championship where she did not win 100 m gold.

2012 Olympics and 2013 sprint triple

Beginning with her first Olympic win in 2008, Fraser-Pryce had been at the forefront of a booming sprint rivalry between Jamaica and the United States. At the Beijing Olympics four years earlier, Jamaica had secured five of a possible six gold medals in the sprints, with Fraser-Pryce and Campbell-Brown winning the 100 m and 200 m respectively, and Usain Bolt dominating the men's 100 m, 200 m, and 4 x 100 m. Jamaica’s success continued through the 2009 and 2011 World Championships, highlighted by Bolt's record-breaking performances at each event. Heading to the 2012 London Olympics, Fraser-Pryce was aiming to defend her title from 2008 after failing to medal in the world 100 m final in Daegu. However, she faced strong competition from rival Carmelita Jeter, the reigning world champion and the second fastest woman of all time.
After an inconsistent start to the 2012 season, Fraser-Pryce won the sprint double at the Jamaican Olympic Trials in June. In the 100 m, she set a new personal best of 10.70 s, which improved on the national record she set in 2009 and moved her up to fourth on the all-time list of fastest 100 m times. In her first year contesting the 200 m, she defeated the world champion Veronica Campbell-Brown in a career best 22.10 s. While preparing for the Olympics, she was also completing her Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Technology in Jamaica.
At the Olympics, Fraser-Pryce progressed to the 100 m final as second fastest behind Jeter. In the final she was quickest from the blocks, and ultimately leaned at the finish line for a narrow victory ahead of Jeter to defend her title. Her time of 10.75 s was the second fastest in Olympic history, while the race itself was the fastest ever 100 m final, with an unprecedented six women breaking 11 seconds. Jeter finished in 10.78 s for silver, with Campbell-Brown claiming bronze in 10.81 s. With her win, Fraser-Pryce joined Americans Gail Devers and Wyomia Tyus as the only women to defend an Olympic 100 m title. In the 200 m final, Fraser-Pryce lowered her personal best to 22.09 s, but was unable to overhaul American Allyson Felix, who took the gold in 21.88 s. She earned her second silver medal in the 4 × 100 m relay, running alongside Campbell-Brown, Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart. Their finishing time of 41.41 s was a new Jamaican record, but well behind the United States' world record of 40.82 s.
Overall, Jamaica had another strong showing in athletics at the 2012 Olympics. In addition to Fraser-Pryce retaining her title, Bolt also continued his winning streak on the men's side, leading a top-two finish for Jamaica in the 100 m, a sweep of the medals in the 200 m, and a new world record in the 4 x 100 m relay. Closing out her successful season, Fraser-Pryce won the 100 m title at the 2012 Diamond League.
The following year, Fraser-Pryce continued to show her consistency. At the 2013 World Championships, held in Moscow, she matched Usain Bolt in achieving a rare "sprint triple"—gold in the 100 m, 200 m and 4 x 100 m. This meant that Jamaica made a clean sweep of the sprinting medals in both the men's and women's events. Fraser-Pryce prioritised the 200 m in 2013, saying, "I had to change my mindset for the 200 and make it more like the 100...I’ve worked more on my 200 this year than the 100 and have had to develop the same love for both.” She opened her season with a 100 m victory in January, clocking 11.47 s on home soil in Kingston. In May and June, she enjoyed Diamond League wins in both the 100 m and 200 m in Doha, Shanghai and Eugene. For the second consecutive year, she won the 200 m title at the Jamaican Championships, in a world-leading 22.13 s.
Having lost the 100 m world title in 2011, an in-form Fraser-Pryce arrived at the championships as the top-ranked female athlete in both the 100 m and 200 m. In the 100 m final, she regained the title as world's fastest woman with a dominating 10.71 s win. Her 0.22-second margin of victory ahead of silver medallist Murielle Ahouré of the Ivory Coast was the largest in World Championship history. Defending champion Carmelita Jeter collected bronze in 10.94 s. By claiming a second world title, Fraser-Pryce became the only woman to win the 100 m twice at both the Olympics and the World Championships. In the 200 m final, she stormed to a comfortable victory in 22.17 s, earning her first global title over the distance. As the anchor for Jamaica's 4 × 100 m relay team, she secured her third win 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 won six Diamond League races throughout the season to clinch the Diamond League titles for both distances. Owing to her achievements on the track throughout the season, she was named the IAAF World Athlete of the Year.

2014 indoor debut and third world title

On the heels of a successful 2013 season, Fraser-Pryce made her World Indoor Championships debut in Sopot, Poland the March 2014. Early into the season, she posted 7.11 s in an outdoor 60 m race in Kingston. Months later in Birmingham, she finished second in her only 60 m loss of the season to world 100 m and 200 m silver medallist Murielle Ahouré.
In Sopot, she won both her heat and semifinal in 7.12 s and 7.08 s respectively. In the 60 m final, she had her usual quick start and finished ahead of Ahoure in a world-leading 6.98 s. Her winning time, which she achieved with no specific preparation for the 60 m, was the fastest since 1999 and made her 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 championships. She also became the first woman in history to hold world titles in the 60 m, 100 m, 200 m and 4 x 100 m at the same time. This was Fraser-Pryce's last outing at an Indoor Championship until 2020.
There were no major global championships in 2014. On the Diamond League scene, she won the 100 m in Doha in early May, posting 11.13 s. However, she struggled with shin splints for the rest of her season, resulting in poor showings on the international circuit. She first withdrew from the Shanghai meet in mid-May, before finishing last in the 200 m at the Prefontaine Classic, and seventh in the 100 m in Rome. She went on to compete in the IAAF World Relays in Nassau, Bahamas later that month, where the Jamaican team finished third in the 4 × 200 metres relay in 1:30.04 s, behind the United States and Great Britain. In June, she withdrew from the Adidas Grand Prix, and returned to the track in July at the Glasgow Grand Prix, where she finished second in the 100 m in 11.10 s. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, she ran only in the 4 x 100 m relay, winning gold in 41.83 s.
In 2015, Fraser-Pryce opted not to defend her 200 m title at the Beijing World Championships. At a Diamond League meet in Paris, she explained that her coach wanted to shift focus back to the 100 m to work on her starting technique. Since her debut on the world stage, she had become well known for her fast starts, and her coach believed that she had deviated from her 2008 form. She started the season strong, setting an early world lead of 10.81 s at the Prefontaine Classic in May. She lowered the mark to 10.79 s at the Jamaican Championships at the end of June, and a week later, set a new world lead of 10.74 s in Paris.
At the championships, Fraser-Pyrce was the clear favourite for 100 m gold, qualifying as fastest overall in the semifinal with 10.82 s. In the 100 m final, she led from start to finish, fending off a late challenge from Dutch sprinter Dafne Schippers to stop the clock in 10.76 s. Schippers won silver in 10.81 s, while American Tori Bowie earned bronze in 10.86 s. With her win, Fraser-Pryce became the second woman after American Marion Jones to defend a 100 m world title, and the only woman to win the title three times. However, although happy for the win, she was dissatisfied with her time, and in a post-race interview stated, "I'm getting tired of 10.7s...I definitely think a 10.6 is there. Hopefully I will get it together." She also anchored the women's 4 × 100 m team, consisting of Veronica Campbell-Brown, Natasha Morrison and protege Elaine Thompson, to gold. Their 41.07 s was the second fastest time in history and improved on the previous championship record they set in 2013.
With the exception of a fifth-place finish in her first race of the year, Fraser-Pryce went undefeated in her remaining ten races in 2015. She capped her season with Diamond League wins in Zürich and Padova to take the overall 100 m title for the third time in her career.

2016 Olympics and brief split from coach

With a record three world titles and two Olympic titles, Fraser-Pryce had matched Usain Bolt medal for medal in the 100 m throughout their career. With the upcoming 2016 Rio Olympics, she set her sights on becoming the first woman to win three consecutive Olympic 100 m titles. Her season would not go as planned, however, after an injury caused chronic inflammation and restricted movement to her toe, hindering her preparations. After missing several races, she opened her season in May at the Diamond League Prefontaine Classic, finishing 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. Thompson ran a world-leading 10.70 s to defeat Fraser-Pryce at the Jamaican Olympic Trials, and equalled her rival's national record. In a highly competitive season, which saw many of her rivals post multiple sub-10.90 s times, Fraser-Pryce held a season's best of 10.93 s, ranking her eighth fastest in the world that year. Although she initially planned to contest the sprint double, she decided not to run in the 200 m.
At the Olympics in Rio, Fraser-Pryce qualified as joint fastest for the final with Thompson, posting a new season's best of 10.88 s. She was in visible discomfort after winning her semifinal, crying and limping off the track. In the 100 m final, she battled to the finish in a season’s best 10.86 s to win bronze. Thompson secured Jamaica's third successive Olympic gold over the 100 m 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 been pessimistic about reaching the final, and described 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 metres relay team in a season's best 41.36 s. The United States claimed their second consecutive gold in 41.01 s.
After the Olympics, Fraser-Pryce briefly parted ways with longtime coach Stephen Francis, whom she shared with Thompson. At the end of August, Francis disclosed that Fraser-Pryce was unhappy with their preparation for the Olympics, and expressed a lack of confidence in Francis' training programme. He also hinted at her dissatisfaction with her timings over the years, specifically in lowering her 10.70 s personal best from 2012. 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.

2018–present: 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. She went into labour while watching the world 100 m final that year, and gave birth the next day via emergency C-section. She returned to competition less than a year later, describing her journey back as both physically and mentally challenging: "My stomach would be in pain...I couldn’t abdominals properly. I whether my body would allow me to put the level of work in to get it done.” Despite expectations that she would retire, she publicly promised a major comeback.
Fraser-Pryce took to the international circuit for several Diamond League meets, all while breastfeeding for the first 15 months. After eight races, she posted her first sub-11-second clocking of the year with 10.98 s at the London Grand Prix in July. She also competed in the 4 x 100 m at the 2018 Athletics World Cup, winning silver behind Great Britain. In August, she ran 11.18 s for fifth place at the Toronto North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association Championships, where she also earned silver behind the United States in the 4 x 100 m relay.
After ending her 2018 season in August, Fraser-Pryce made steady progress with her training into the 2019 season, and at the Jamaican Championships in June, she finished second to double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson in both the 100 m and the 200 m. Although Thompson won by a comfortable margin in the 200 m, the 100 m final ended in a photo finish, with both sprinters sharing the world-leading time of 10.73 s. Fraser-Pryce’s 10.73 in this race became the fastest non-winning time in history. 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, and recording three of the five fastest times of the year. 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 in June, the two did not meet until the 2019 Doha World Championships, in one of the event's most highly anticipated showdowns.
In Doha, Fraser-Pryce cruised to 10.80 s in the 100 m heats, the fastest first-round time in World Championships history. 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 rival Thompson finished fourth in 10.93 s. With this achievement, she became the oldest woman and first mother in 24 years to win a 100 m global title. Fraser-Pryce admitted to taking 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. She added a second gold medal at the championships by running the second leg of the Jamaican 4 x 100 m relay team, her ninth world championship title overall. She had also planned to contest the 200 m, but later withdrew.
In February 2020, Fraser-Pryce won the 60 m at the Muller Indoor Athletics Grand Prix, clocking 7.16 s. It was her first Indoor competition since she won gold in Sopot back in 2014. Her 2020 season was put on hold in early spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which also led to the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics. She announced that she will retire after the 2022 World Championships.

Legacy and achievements

Many publications describe Fraser-Pryce as the greatest female sprinter in history. In 2019, the Olympic Channel wrote, "Two consecutive Olympic titles in the 100m, four world titles in the same distance, six Olympic medals in total, eleven World Championship medals overall, nine of which are gold, including in the 200m...: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is one of, if not the, greatest female sprinters of all time." In 2020, Track & Field News ranked her as the top female 100 m sprinter of the 2010s decade, as well as the fifth greatest in the 200 m. The same publication ranked her at number two in the 100 m for the 2000s decade, behind Veronica Campbell-Brown. Sean Ingle of The Guardian lauded her achievements after the 2019 World Championships, insisting that her win gave her "legitimate claim to be considered the greatest ever." Writing for CNN, Ben Church also admired her longevity, noting that her 2019 title came 11 years after her first Olympic title, with her winning time just 0.01 seconds shy of her seven-year-old personal best.
Fraser-Pryce has been praised for consistently delivering at major championships, winning six of the eight global 100 m titles she has contested between 2008 and 2019. Her coach Stephen Francis stated that she had "mastered the trick of staying good," adding, "It’s far easier to get good than to stay good... a lot of natural factors mitigate against you staying at number one, but developed a mindset that keeps her where she is." She has registered 14 sub-10.80 s timings in the 100 m, more than any other woman in history, and one ahead of sprinter Marion Jones. She has run below this mark in six separate seasons, and has won all of her global championship titles with sub-10.80 performances. In a single season, she has tallied the second most sub-10.80 s clockings, tied with Florence Griffith Joyner and second to Marion Jones. Fraser-Pryce is second to Merlene Ottey with 51 sub-11 s clockings. She is the fastest mother in history, and in 2019 joined Americans Gwen Torrence and Wilma Rudolph, as well as Dutch sprinter Fanny Blankers-Koen, as the only mothers to win a global 100 m title. With her fourth title, Fraser-Pryce also surpassed Usain Bolt and Americans Carl Lewis and Maurice Greene, who each have three world titles in the 100 m
Despite her success, her profile on a global scale was largely eclipsed by countryman Usain Bolt. On the eve of the 2016 Olympics, The Washington Post alluded to this disparity with the headline "A Jamaican will go for a third gold medal in Rio — and it’s not who you think." Likewise, CNN wrote that Fraser-Pryce had matched Bolt "medal for medal over 100 m" at every global championship, but "somehow, that isn't common knowledge." Although she has been vocal about the gender gap in athletics, Fraser-Pryce has insisted that she has never felt overshadowed. She also asserted that the near-unattainable 100 m world record and the lack of consistently fast times in women's sprinting have contributed to the imbalance: "I have always said it's a man's world... I think it has a lot to do with the times as well. When you have male athletes ... 9.5s as opposed to female athletes running 10.8s constantly, there is no 'wow' to the event." In 2019, after Bolt's retirement, sports writer Steve Keating declared Fraser-Pryce the new face of athletics, adding that her "golden personality" and "human interest" resonated with fans, marketers and sponsors. He also saw the birth of her son and her determination to return to the top as compelling dimensions to her legacy.
After her triple gold medal win at the 2013 World Championships, Fraser-Pryce stated that fellow athletes were critical of her success, with some suggesting that she had used performance enhancing drugs. Although she achieved world-leading times in the 100 m and 200 m in 2013, she denied using banned substances, pointing out that her performances on the track have been consistent with her progression from previous seasons. In November 2013, she threatened to boycott international competitions, citing the lacklustre approach of Jamaica's Athletics Administrative Authority in defending Jamaican athletes from these "hurtful" accusations.
In 2019, Fraser-Pryce published the children's book I Am a Promise, based on the life lessons she learned growing up and competing as an athlete.

Awards and recognition

In 2008, Fraser-Pryce was honoured with the Order of Distinction for her achievements in athletics. In October 2018, she was also honoured with a statue at the Jamaica National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica. During the ceremony, Minister of Sports Olivia Grange hailed her a role model for young girls and a Jamaican "modern-day hero."
The recipient of many accolades in Jamaica, she has won the JAAA's Golden Cleats Award for Female Athlete of the Year four times: 2009, 2012, 2013 and 2015. She has also received the Jamaican Sportsperson of the Year award four times: 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2019.
On the international scene, she has been nominated for the Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year five times: 2010, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2019. After she completed the sprint triple at the 2013 Moscow World Championships, she was named IAAF World Athlete of the Year, becoming the first Jamaican woman to win since Merlene Ottey in 1990. In accepting her award, she exclaimed, "I'm shocked and excited. It's something that has been a dream of mine."

Technique and running style

Under the guidance of her coach Stephen Francis, Fraser-Pryce honed her technique to become one of the most decorated track athletes of all time. She stated that none of her technique came naturally, and that when she began competing, she ran with an exaggerated forward lean: "I had a really bad running posture, like I ran, literally, dropping on my face. Stephen saw all of this and, as a coach, he analyzed and he took a year to actually go through my core needs." By 2008, she had improved her posture and sharpened her start, including her first stride, the placement of her arms and the different phases of the sprint. Over time, her technique became second nature: "You feel all of your phases. Because of how the body is, you can feel it, like a sixth sense. So I focus on nailing each phase properly, and if I’m able to, then I know that’s history.”
Fraser-Pryce's trademark is her explosive starts, which have earned her the nickname "Pocket Rocket." Her style involves “bolting to the lead” with maximum velocity and then "maintaining her position through to the finish.” Jon Mulkeen of World Athletics described her starting technique as "devastating...her best weapon," while sports writer Steve Landells declared, "her ability to shift her legs over the first five metres remains the envy of the world." In a study of her performance in the 2009 world 100 m final, sports scientists Rolf Graubner and Eberhard Nixdorf reported her 30 m split at 4.02 s, which they determined to be at the level of male sprinters with a performance ability in the 10.40 s to 10.60 s range. By this 30 m point in the race, she had opened up a 0.09 s lead on the rest of the field.
At just under 5 feet and 3 inches tall, Fraser-Pryce is more petite than most female sprinters. She revealed that when she started training at the University of Technology, "everyone I was too short and I shouldn't think about running fast." A prototypical stride rate runner, she relies on cadence and a high stride frequency in her races, although she also has "well developed" stride length. On average, she takes 50 strides to complete the 100 m, and has a cadence of about 286 steps per minute. In their analysis, Graubner and Nixdorf found that she covered her 2009 final in 49.58 strides — equivalent to an average of two metres per step, with her longest strides of 2.2 m exhibited over the last 20 m of her race. Her peak stride frequency averaged around 4.91 times per second.

Personal life

In November 2012, Fraser-Pryce graduated from the University of Technology with her Bachelor of Science in Child and Adolescent Development. In 2016, she announced that she would be pursuing a Master of Science in Applied Psychology at the University of the West Indies. A committed Christian, she married Jason Pryce in 2011, and announced her pregnancy in early 2017. On her Facebook she wrote, "All my focus heading into training for my 2017 season was on getting healthy and putting myself in the best possible fitness to successfully defend my title in London 2017, but... here I am thinking about being the greatest mother I can be." On 7 August 2017, she and her husband welcomed a son named Zyon.

Sponsorship, charities and business

Fraser-Pryce has signed sponsorship deals with Digicel, GraceKennedy and Nike. To promote her chase for Olympic glory in 2016, Nike released a series of promotional videos of her training sessions for the 100 m.
Fraser-Pryce has supported many causes throughout her career. She was named as the first UNICEF National Goodwill Ambassador for Jamaica on 22 February 2010. That year, she was also named Grace Goodwill Ambassador for Peace in a partnership with Grace Foods and not-for-profit organisation PALS. She also created the Pocket Rocket Foundation, a scheme which supports high school athletes in financial need.
Known for frequently changing her hairstyle during track season, she launched a hair salon named Chic Hair Ja in 2013.

Career statistics

Personal bests

Fraser-Pryce's season's best in the 100 m since 2002.
Season's best 100 m and 200 m times, with world rank in parentheses.
Year100 metres200 metres
200212.3824.85
200311.57–
200411.7224.08
200511.72–
200611.74–
200711.3124.13
200810.78 22.15
200910.73 22.58
2010––
201110.95 22.59
201210.70 22.09
201310.71 22.13
201411.01 22.53
201510.74 22.37
201610.86 23.15
2017––
201810.98 –
201910.71 22.22
202011.00 22.74

International competitions

Circuit wins