Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Talks Equality In Sports And Jamaica’s Golden Era

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is one of the greatest track and field athletes of all time. Now she’s sharing how she gets the job done.

Sitting down with BLACK ENTERPRISE (full video below), Fraser-Pryce talked about her long list of record-breaking titles, serving as a hometown hero to Jamaica, inclusion of women in professional sports, and how her role as a “Mommy Rocket” comes before everything.

Just ahead of her big race at the World Athletics Championships in August 2023, Fraser-Pryce shared how she’s preparing for the competition mentally, physically, and spiritually.

“No two years are ever the same. You plan and you work and you just hope that everything falls into place,” Fraser-Pryce said.

But there is a small “hiccup” this time around. The knee injury she suffered while training in Kenya sent Fraser-Pryce “back to the drawing board.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (@realshellyannfp)

But her coaching team has her prepared for another big race against global competitors, while her faith has her ready for whatever obstacles come her way.

“Spiritually, I really just trust that God will always work things out for His good, and I always have to trust that,” she declared.

Challenges are clearly surmountable for the “Mommy Rocket” who has broken a number of world records. In 2019, Fraser-Pryce became the first mother in 24 years to claim a global 100m title. In 2022, she became the oldest world champion sprinter at the age of 35.

Fraser-Pryce, who also holds more global 100m titles than any other sprinter in history, is a leader of Jamaica’s current golden era in sprinting.

“It definitely feels good,” Fraser-Pryce said of being a hometown hero in Jamaica. “To be one of the icons of our country is really phenomenal.”

Growing up in Jamaica and unsure of her future, Fraser-Pryce admits she didn’t take her track-and-field career seriously until after college. Now that she has multiple gold medals and titles under her belt, the Olympian works to remain humble and unfazed by outside chatter by continuing to lead on the field, all while managing her entrepreneurial endeavors which include the Shelly Beauty company and the Pocket Rocket Foundation.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Pocket Rocket Foundation (@sfppocketrocketfoundation)

But both business and sports come second to her primary role as a mother.

“Motherhood is the primary focus,” Fraser-Pryce said, noting how “intentional” and “balanced” she has to be with everything while raising her son.

In addition to touching on the nonstop comparisons to other Jamaican sprinters like Elaine Thompson and American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, and if the ladies will ever beat the 1988 world record of the late Florence Griffith Joyner, Fraser-Pryce touched on the importance of women in professional sports and how the next generation can champion women on and off the field.

“Yeah it’s ok to include us, but I want us to occupy the same space and have the same equality,” she said.

Press play below for the full interview, and be sure to tune in when Fraser-Pryce competes in the World Athletics Championship in Hungary on August 19, 2023.