Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is regarded as one of the greatest track and field athletes of all time, and she’s sharing how she gets the job done.
Sitting down with BLACK ENTERPRISE, Fraser-Pryce talks about her long list of record-breaking titles, serving as a hometown hero to Jamaica, inclusion for women in professional sports, and how her role as a “Mommy Rocket” comes before everything.
Just ahead of Fraser-Pryce’s big race at the World Athletics Championships in August, she shares 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 after her “disappointment” in Kenya with her knee injury. Fraser-Pryce says the injury sent her “back to the drawing board” as she gears up for another big race against global competitors.
Her coaching team has her “prepared” for the big day 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 nothing for the certified “Mommy Rocket” who has broken a number of world records that include being the first mother in 24 years to claim a global 100m title in 2019, and last year when she became the oldest sprinter to become a world champion at the age of 35.
She also has the most global 100m titles than any other sprinter in history and is a leader among Jamaica’s current golden era in sprinting.
“It definitely feels good,” Fraser-Pryce said of being a hometown hero to Jamaica. “To be one of the icon’s of our country is really phenomenal.”
Growing up in Jamaica unsure of her future, Fraser-Pryce admits she didn’t take her track and field career seriously until after college. But now with multiple gold medals and titles under her belt, the Olympian works to remain humble and unphased by the outside chatter by continuing to lead the pack on the field all while managing her entrepreneurial endeavors which include her Shelly Beauty company and her Pocket Rocket foundation.
But business and sports come second to her primary role as a mother, the “Mommy Rocket” says.
“Motherhood is the primary focus,” Fraser-Pryce says, 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 Shacarri Richardson, and if the ladies will ever beat out the 1988 world record of the late Griffith Joyner, Fraser-Pryce touched on the importance of inclusion for women in professional sports and how the next generation can continue championing for women on and off the field.
“Yeah it’s okay 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.
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