Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shericka Jackson
Last night, Jamaicans around the world who follow Track & Field Athletics, witnessed what can best be described as “the changing of the guard” in Jamaican female sprinting when the 37 year-old Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce OJ, qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, her fifth Olympics after finishing third behind winner Shericka Jackson, and the 19 year-old second place finisher, Tia Clayton in the women’s 100 meters final at the Jamaica National Senior Trials at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica. After finishing second in the 100m at the Olympic trials 16 years ago in 2008 and in front of fourth-place Veronica Campbell-Brown, public opinion held that Fraser was too inexperienced and unknown and should have stood down to Jamaica's sprinting darling at the time Veronica Campbell-Brown as one of the three 100m competitors for the Beijing Olympic Games.
Luckily for Fraser, the JAAA disregarded the public sentiments being expressed at the time and Shelly Ann Fraser was allowed to compete in the individual 100m at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce has gone on to win eight individual medals for Jamaica at four Olympic Games, including four Gold, five Silvers, and one Bronze. She has also mined 16 World Championship medals including 10 Gold, seven Silvers and one Bronze. Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce has the unmatched record of being World Champion at 100 meters on five occasions at the World Championships, and as a track athlete she has enjoyed such an unmatched level of success, she is recognized as the Greatest female sprinter of all time.
Watching Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce qualifying for what will be her fifth Olympic Games, one could not fail to take note of not just the historic nature of Shelly’s feat, but also the fact that the young Tia Clayton had pushed her senior MVP training partner Shericka Jackson to the wire, demonstrating that she was ready to receive the baton from the veteran Fraser-Pryce as the three crossed the finish line. Clayton too demonstrated to the Jamaican public and the world at large that she has stepped up to the “Big League” and that Jamaica will be open for business at Paris 2024, and to defend its record as the World’s top sprinting nation.
Kishane Thompson, Oblique Seville
Beyond the momentous performances of the Jamaican women, the Senior Men’s 100 meters Final left Jamaican as well as global track fans in complete astonishment when 22-year-old Kishane Thompson from MVP produced a scintillating 9.77 second (World-leading) run to take the Men’s senior title ahead of Oblique Seville who finished second in 9.82 seconds, and Ackeem Blake 9.92 seconds who finished third. Such was the dominance of the Kishane Thompson win, it has immediately shifted the narrative on Jamaican men’s sprinting, with Jamaica now seen not just as a medal contender for a medal in the Paris men’s final, but as a contender two medals including Gold in the event. It also rebalances the arguments regarding the sprint relay medals.
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