‘I enjoyed tonight’
Fraser-Pryce pleased with progress ahead of World Championships
Published:Sunday | June 19, 2022 | 12:14 AMDaniel Wheeler - Staff Reporter
FOUR-TIME 100-METRE World Champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce ensured that her final 100m race before this weekend’s National Senior Championships was used to send a message to the field of her intent to capture an unprecedented fifth world title.
Fraser-Pryce, the only Jamaican to compete in the meet, powered to victory in the 100m at the Diamond League meet in Paris yesterday, equalling her world-leading time of 10.67 seconds for back-to-back wins in 100m races this season.
Great Britain’s Daryll Neita was second in a season’s best time of 10.99 while Marie Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast finished third in 11.01, also a season’s best.
The time also broke the meet record set by double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson Herah (10.72 last August).
Fraser-Pryce has only competed twice this year in the 100m but both have ended in victories and back-to-back sub 10.70 times.
By comparison, Fraser-Pryce had two sub-10.70 times in 2021, clocking 10.63 on June 5 and her personal best 10.60 in August.
Fraser-Pryce said that while the work continues, she is pleased to have met her goal of running 10.60 seconds consistently.
“I cannot be disappointed. I am still training hard so I am now looking forward to the National Championships and then afterwards,” Fraser-Pryce said.
“The fans were so nice here, I enjoyed tonight. The plan and the aim is to make sure that I am able to run 10.60 sustainably.”
In her pre-race press conference on Friday, Fraser-Pryce said that the main motivator for her to continue despite her age has been the knowledge that she can run faster, which was further cemented by last season’s performances.
RACE EXECUTION
“I have been making sure that the things that I know will help me to do that are my technique and focusing on executing my races and the different phases of the race. Once I am able to cement that, I definitely think that I will be able to run faster than I ever dreamt possible,” Fraser-Pryce said.
Her performances so far this year have supported her stance. Fraser-Pryce has competed four times in total this season which include two 200m races, finishing first and second over the half-lap event.
Fraser-Pryce is scheduled to compete in the 200m at the National Championships which start on Thursday.
As the defending 100m champion, she has a wild card into next month’s World Athletics Championships and does not have to compete in the 100m.
Both Fraser-Pryce and Thompson Herah have the first and second fastest times in the world this year, with Thompson Herah running 10.79 in May in Eugene, Orgeon, the site of the World Championships.