By: Taren Vaughan
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce snagged another one, a gold medal that is and still holds on to her crown as the fastest woman in the world. Defending a title is never an easy thing to do and brings about a lot of pressure on an athlete knowing that millions of people all over the world are watching you. That didn’t bother Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce much as she took home the gold at the 2012 Olympics in the women’s 100m dash, just barely beating out American track star Carmelita Jeter who walked away with the silver medal, a huge accomplishment for Jeter as this was her first appearance in the Olympics at age 32. Fraser-Pryce’s teammate Veronica Campbell-Brown finished a strong third, collecting a bronze medal for Jamaica.
To us, what Shelly-Ann has achieved would put her right at celebrity status but she says that back in her hometown of Kingston, Jamaica, she may not get that same reaction from natives there. She also said that track star Usain Bolt, who also hails from the Caribbean island, is the hot topic back home and people sometimes drill her with questions about him when she is out and about:
“Sometimes when I go to the supermarket they ask the questions —Usain, ‘Where is Usain?’ ‘How is Usain?’ ‘Do you train with Usain?’”
That’s okay with Shelly-Ann though because she was never one for being the center of attention:
“I’m OK with that because I’m not one of those persons who likes the limelight.”
Shelly-Ann may not crave the limelight but she sure does deserve it as this Saturday’s win makes Fraser-Pryce only the third woman in the history of the Olympics Games to defend their gold medal in the 100-meter dash, putting her in the same category with two other Olympic greats Wyomia Tyus from 1968 and Gail Devers, who was the last female sprinter to do it back in 1996.
Successfully defending her title as the fast woman in the world, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce also is attempting to finish her degree, which would make her the first person from her family to have one:
“I am at UTech in my final year and working hard to graduate next year and become the first in my family with a university degree,”
And to think, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce said that people used to tell her she would amount to nothing. Boy, were they ever wrong.
That little woman is fast. I thought Carmelita Jeter was going to take the Gold but Carmelita was too much in that final 30 meters.