In an interview for Marie Claire's new Women in Sports issue, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce breaks her silence on what led to her dropping out of the 100m semi-final in Paris last year, after previously only expressing her "disappointment" over the decision. The race would have bookended her stellar Olympic career, launched at the 2008 Games.
That day started off on the wrong foot for the Jamaican track and field star, who upon arriving at the Stade Annexe near the Stade de France to clock in her training time, was told that the gate she'd used to enter the previous day was not in use that day.
Fraser-Pryce didn't want to walk the extra 200 meters carrying her heavy bag. So, in order to preserve her energy for the race, she waited while the workers at the gate made calls. She presumed they would eventually let her in, but they didn't. She waited as other athletes passed by; she found the whole incident humiliating.
When it became clear that she wouldn't be able to use that gate, Fraser-Pryce decided to walk to an alternate entrance, but by then her usual training time had been significantly cut down.
Things went from bad to worse from there. In her final two reps on the warm-up track, the athlete described a sensation of her body "shutting down" and experiencing painful cramps in her legs. "It would’ve been one thing if this happened at the beginning of my warm-up," she tells Marie Claire. "I wanted to do it for my country, but then I had to ask 'what’s right for me?'"
At this point, it felt clear to Fraser-Pryce that she couldn't compete. "I was probably having a panic attack," she says. "I felt I could see it in front of me, and it was ripped [out of my hands]."
On the philosophy that led her to make the difficult decision, she says, "I'm a warrior, I'm a fighter. I love rising to the occasion. I only ran one or two races going into that meet. People probably thought it was gonna be a stretch, but it wasn't a stretch to me. I like competing on my own terms. I like to exit on my own terms. That's not how I wanted to do it."
At the time, Fraser-Pryce only cited injury as her reason for withdrawing, and subsequently wrote on Instagram, "It is difficult for me to find the words to describe the depth of my disappointment. The support of my fans, my country and the larger community has rooted me in immense gratitude that has sustained me throughout my career. My faith has always affirmed my trust in my journey."
Today, Fraser-Pryce is preparing to run her last-ever professional race, at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
