Jamaican sprint legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and 10-time world champion, said she will retire after this year’s Paris Olympics in an interview published Thursday.
Speaking to the American magazine Essence, Fraser-Pryce said she is forcing herself to retire at age 37 to spend more time with her family.
“My son needs me,” Fraser-Pryce told the magazine. “My husband and I have been together since before I won in 2008. He has sacrificed for me. We’re a partnership, a team.
“It’s because of that support that I’m able to do the things that I’ve been doing for all these years. And I think I now owe it to them to do something else.”
She is focusing on her training for one last chance at Olympic glory in France, what Fraser-Pryce said is about “pushing boundaries” as well as “showing people that you stop when you decide.
“I want to finish on my own terms.”
Fraser-Pryce has won eight Olympic medals, including 100-meter gold at 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London and a Tokyo Olympic title as part of Jamaica’s 4×100 relay.
Her medal haul also includes silver at 100m in Tokyo and 200m in London plus a 2016 Rio 100m bronze.
She won 100m world titles in 2009, 2013, 2015, 2019 and 2022 plus a 200 world crown in 2013 and 4×100 relay golds in 2009, 2013, 2015 and 2019.
“There’s not a day I’m getting up to go practice and I’m like, ‘I’m over this,’” Fraser-Pryce said.
