Interview | ‘Unfinished business’ - Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce looks forward to making amends for Paris heartbreak

Japan is where it all began for Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and fittingly enough, Japan is where it’s all set to end for the Jamaican, whom many regard as the greatest female sprinter of all time. The upcoming world championships in Tokyo will be Fraser-Pryce’s ninth and final appearance at the biennial showpiece event before she heads into retirement. To get a good measure of how long she’s been around, consider this — Fraser-Pryce, now 38, is just four months younger than Usain Bolt, that other charismatic Jamaican sprint legend, and it’s already eight years since Bolt made his final competitive appearance at the 2017 world championships in London.In fact, around the same time the sporting world was celebrating Bolt’s extraordinary career, there was cause for celebration in the Pryce household too, as Shelly-Ann gave birth to her son Zyon.Motherhood, many thought, meant she was never going to return to elite track competition. The three-time Olympic champion, however, never harboured any doubt that she would. “For me, I ultimately knew that I was coming back. It wasn’t if or maybe. I knew that, and I think resilience is also knowing your power and owning that power,” Fraser-Pryce told reporters during a call this week.“Honestly, I think being a mom has really fuelled me,” she would add.It’s hard to argue against the evidence. After giving birth, Fraser-Pryce has racked up a staggering haul of two Olympic medals, including a gold, and seven world championship medals, including three gold. “I don’t think I’m special, but I definitely think that God is good. And I also think that it’s a mindset.“I’ve never been one to focus on opinions of others, or what people think can happen, or what’s possible or what the norm is. Sometimes greatness happens outside of the norm.“My son is my biggest motivation. I think competing after I’ve had my son, for women, it teaches us that our dreams don’t end when we become mothers. If anything, they add value to our dreams and our goals, what we’re chasing.” And so, a ‘chase’ which began at the 2007 world championships in Osaka, when she was just 20, and only a reserve in Jamaica's 4×100m relay team, is now approaching the finish line in Tokyo. For the 10-time world champion, after the agonising end to her final Olympic Games in Paris last year, this is about settling “unfinished business”.“I think what made it even worse was, I was able to kind of dig myself out of a hole going into Paris. And I felt like that moment was just taken from me,” said Fraser-Pryce who was forced to withdraw from her 100m semifinal after suffering an injury in the warm-up. “I believe I didn’t get the opportunity to really just do what I know I could have done in that moment. And it was hurtful.“It was the first time in my entire career that I’ve never been able to step to a line to compete. And if anyone knows me, it doesn’t matter what’s happening, I’m going to be at the line. And not being able to be at that line to compete was heartbreaking for me. I think it’s the first time in my entire career I’ve had a panic attack.“And that’s really what unfinished business is. Having the opportunity to really end things on my terms, having the opportunity to walk away knowing that I gave everything. That’s what I’m looking forward to.”From leaving her mark in a golden era of sprinting, Fraser-Pryce is already inspiring the next generation of sprinters. Take 15-year-old Italian Kelly Ann Doualla, who recently clocked the fastest under-18 European time ever recorded in the women’s 100m (11.21s), and whose middle name reveals just who the source of inspiration was. “I thought it was only Beyonce people named people after,” Fraser-Pryce quipped when asked if she had heard of Doualla. “It felt inspiring. But I’m like, ‘man, like, that’s definitely showing my age’.Fraser-Pryce’s career highlights“But seeing a young athlete saying that her mom named her after me, it's what it's all about, you know. That's the impact that I want. It's understanding that a young girl who is named after me will always understand what the name carries. And I'm hoping that it continues to show her what's possible.”Elite track and field is bound to miss the colourful presence of the ‘Pocket Rocket’, quite literally thanks to the signature vibrant hairstyles she has sported over the years, but even in retirement, Fraser-Pryce has no plans of easing up. Not even when she goes up against the other moms at her son’s school sports day ‘fun’ sprint races.“Never, I would never do that. It’s not in my DNA to do it,” she laughed heartily when TOI asked her about it. “They know I’m an elite sprinter, but what amazes me is the fact that they actually think they stood a chance.“So, yes, they’re having fun, but I don’t think they understand exactly who I am because I’m like, ‘I’m taking no prisoners’. I do not care if it’s for fun.”