The gold here in Eugene was delivered in classic Fraser-Pryce style. She burst through the blocks, lifted much faster than her rivals and put the race to bed long before she slid across the line in 10.67 – well ahead of compatriot Shericka Jackson, who took silver in 10.73 and the Tokyo Olympian Elaine Thompson. -Hera, who took the bronze in 10.81. Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith ran her heart out and equaled her national record of 10.83, but it was only good enough for fourth place. “It sucks,” he admitted. “I was so close.” But this night was about Fraser-Pryce who – incredibly – won her first Olympic 100m title in 2008, a day after Usain Bolt crashed into the sporting stratosphere. Since then she has won world titles in 2009, 2013, 2015, 2019 and now 2022. After the birth of her son Zyon in 2017 via C-section, she feared she would never regain her core strength, let alone back to her best. On the contrary, with each passing year her legend grows. “I hope it shows that age doesn’t change anything,” he said afterwards. “You can be in your 20s, you can be in your 30s and you can still achieve greatness. You just have to compete and trust yourself and your gut and your gut. “I feel blessed to have this talent and to still be doing it at 35, having a baby, continuing and hopefully inspiring women that they can take their own journey.” Who would now dare to dispute that she is the greatest female sprinter of all? Not when that victory made her the first athlete to win five world titles in an individual running event – as well as the oldest world champion in track and field, surpassing Justin Gatlin. And the most incredible statistic of all? Fraser-Pryce has never run faster in a 100m final during her seven world victories than she did on Sunday night. At 35. The extremely fast Beynon track at Hayward Field is certainly a major factor in this amazing achievement. Like the new series of super spikes introduced in 2019, which top sprint coach Lance Bowman estimates are worth around 0.07-0.10 seconds over 100m. In recent years her technique has become even better. However, when asked about the secret of her success, Fraser-Pryce opted for a simpler explanation. “I’m a competitor,” she replied. “I like to compete.” Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica, third from left, crosses the line. Photo: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile/Getty Images As she celebrated, Usher-Smith put her head down in lane eight and wondered what it might be. She was close to Fraser-Pryce for the first 30 meters of the race and remained in second place until 25 meters to go when Jackson passed her. Even so, bronze was still in the cards going into the final stages. But at that point she was blindsided by Thompson-Herah in lane four, who stormed home to beat her by 0.02. “I couldn’t see anything from lane eight,” Usher-Smith said afterward. “This is both positive and negative. You run without the tension effect, but you also can’t see anyone over your shoulder. It was a good run by me. Very good run. Unfortunately, he was fourth, but the caliber of the final was amazing.” This is true. Fellow British sprinter Daryl Neita ran 10.96 in her semi-final and still missed out on the final. Subscribe to The Recap, our weekly email of editors’ picks. When Asher-Smith was asked if Fraser-Pryce was the best, she nodded. “Probably,” she said. “That was amazing. 10.67 is a fantastic time, and in a championship it’s amazing. It’s one thing to do in a one-off, which is great. To do it on the back of two other races is amazing.” The bad news for Fraser-Pryce’s opponents is that she has no intention of relaxing. Rather, he plans to speed up. “I’m always hungry to do more,” she explained, her words laced with ominous intent. “Because I think more needs to be done. I definitely think I can run faster. And I’m not going to stop until I stop it.”
