Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce from Jamaica is one of the greatest athletes in track and field history. Earlier in 2025, she announced that this year would be her final season competing on the track.
Last year, she competed at her fifth and final Olympic Games in Paris, France. But it unfortunately did not go as anyone expected, most importantly, the way that Shelly-Ann expected for herself.
After comfortably qualifying through the heats of the 100m dash, Shelly didn’t show up on the start line for the 100m semis the next day. Videos started to surface online of Shelly being blocked from an athletes’ entrance, which led to some discussion of her having to walk around the stadium, taking time away from her warm-up before she was set to race, and even potential injuries that she picked up while preparing for the semis.
But after everything went down in Paris, Shelly unfortunately never confirmed what exactly happened and the reason why she didn’t show up to run the semi-finals. She simply left a statement online expressing her disappointment and appreciation for the support from her fans.
But now, almost a full year later, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has finally come out and spoken about the exact reason why she pulled out of her final Olympic Games in Paris last year. She recently did an in-depth interview with Marie Claire where she broke down in detail her setbacks in 2023 and 2024, her panic attack while warming up for the 100m semis in Paris, and why she actually did choose to run in 2025.
But before we dive into all that, and the specific details as to why she pulled out of the Olympic Games last year, let’s just set the stage on who Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is.
Who Is Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce?
In the 100m dash, Shelly is arguably the GOAT of the event. She is a two-time Olympic champion from 2008 and 2012. She’s an Olympic silver and bronze medalist as well, from 2020 and 2016, respectively. She’s a five-time world champion from 2009, 2013, 2015, 2019 and 2022. And she is the third fastest woman of all time with a personal best of 10.60 seconds, sitting only behind Florence Griffith-Joyner with her 10.49, as well as Elaine Thompson-Herah with her 10.54.
On top of that, Shelly-Ann has broken a ton of milestone barriers when talking about the 100m. She owns the most sub-11, sub-10.9, sub-10.8 and sub-10.7 performances throughout her entire career, with 87, 57, 32 and 9, respectively.
So with all these accolades, performances and accomplishments, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is the GOAT of the 100m dash. And in my personal opinion, it’s honestly not even close.
And adding to all her accolades from the 100, she’s also an Olympic and world medalist in the 200m, an Olympic and world medalist in the 4x100, and she has won an indoor gold medal in the 60m dash as well. She is one of the greatest all-around sprinters in history and is still a global medal threat at the age of 38. That’s something only the legendary Merlene Ottey, also from Jamaica, has been able to say, as she won an Olympic bronze medal in the 100m at the age of 40.
Her 2023 Season and Injuries
So now let’s dive into what was actually occurring in the lead-up to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Well, we need to circle back to 2022, when Shelly was coming off winning her fifth World Championship gold medal in the 100m dash and arguably had the greatest season of her career. Many expected her to continue on with that progress and dominate into the 2023 season as well.
She actually planned to open up her season at the 2023 Kip Keino Classic in May of that year, but she pulled out of that meet last minute due to a knee injury that she unfortunately picked up. By way of being the defending world champion from 2022, she actually had a wild card to the World Championships. But Sha’Carri Richardson from the United States and Shericka Jackson, also from Jamaica, were really on the rise and starting to make the conversation for the gold medal a lot more complicated than it had been in the previous year.
But despite the knee injury, Shelly actually did get to run a few races before the World Championships. She ran the 200m at the Jamaican National Championships and actually looked pretty good there, finishing second place. She ran 100m races in Luzern as well as Madrid, and both of those races were in 10.8 seconds. That showed that she was kind of back in form and really a good contender to get on the podium at Worlds.
Well, at those 2023 World Championships in Budapest, though she wasn’t in 100% top form, she did manage to win her sixth World Championship 100m medal, with a bronze behind Sha’Carri Richardson as well as Shericka Jackson in that final. She also ran second leg on Jamaica’s 4x100, which went on to win another medal. But on this 4x100 is where Shelly-Ann ran into an issue that would carry over into the 2024 Olympic year.
The Months Before the 2024 Olympics
At the end of 2023, Shelly announced that Paris would be her fifth and final Olympic Games, which would cap off a 16-year Olympic career that included Games from Beijing and London to Rio and Tokyo. In Paris, she would look to earn her fifth consecutive Olympic 100m medal, something no athlete has ever done in any event in track and field, whether individually or even in the relays.
But we have to circle back to those 2023 World Championships in Budapest. Remember I noted an issue occurred on that 4x100? Well, running on the second leg, Shelly actually injured her hamstring. And though she did manage to finish her leg and successfully hand off, she unfortunately had to end her season, and it carried over into 2024.
What this did was lead to Shelly opening up a little bit later than many expected. And honestly, most people were kind of left in the dark. She did post a few clips of her working out and doing starts in the spring of 2024, but people at that point were still not sure when she was going to open up.
Well, she ran her first race of the Olympic year about two weeks before the Jamaican National Championships, which gave fans the indication that she might be in contention to make the team at the Jamaican Olympic Trials. She eventually finished third place in the 100m, booking her spot to her final Olympic Games in Paris later that summer.
What Happened at the 2024 Olympics
Well, we finally arrive at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France. Shelly-Ann was slated to run in heat 8 of the 100m, and she actually ran a very comfortable 10.92 seconds to qualify into the semi-finals, which would be just a day later. What this race did was prove that she was in some excellent form, and she had a very good chance to not only make the 100m final but to possibly medal.
Remember, she was probably one of the most experienced athletes competing at the Olympic Games, not only in the 100m but at the Olympics as a whole. So considering her experience and considering her fitness, things looked to be on the up for Shelly-Ann in Paris.
The next day in the semi-finals, Shelly was scheduled to run in lane 5 of semi-final number 2, and she was actually in a very, very stacked heat. She was going up against arguably the two gold medal favorites. The rising star Julien Alfred from St. Lucia was running out of lane 6, while the world champion Sha’Carri Richardson was running in lane 7. So between lanes 5, 6 and 7, this was an absolutely stacked semi-final, which would lead to one athlete not getting an automatic qualifying spot into the final. We’ll come back to that in a second.
But when the athletes were on the track setting up their blocks, getting ready to start, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was nowhere to be found. This was an absolute shock. And honestly, the track and field world was completely confused. No one knew exactly what was going on.
Initial reports did come out that she reaggravated her hamstring, the injury she picked up during the 4x100 at the Budapest World Championships. But again, there was no confirmation. Videos did start to pop up of Shelly-Ann as well as Sha’Carri Richardson being blocked from entering the warm-up track. But again, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce never confirmed that this was the exact reason why she didn’t show up for the semis.
And what made it even more confusing is that Sha’Carri Richardson actually did run in that same semi-final. So even though they were in the same situation, people weren’t exactly sure why Shelly-Ann didn’t show up to run. So both the semi-finals and the final of the 100m went on without Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Julien Alfred, again from St. Lucia, went on to become the Olympic 100m champion.
Now, Shelly-Ann did eventually come out and make a statement for the public, but it didn’t provide much clarity on why she pulled out. In the statement, she said:
“It is difficult for me to find the words to describe the depth of my disappointment. I know that my supporters share and shoulder this disappointment with me.
I am truly blessed to have had the steadfast support of my fans since my Olympic debut in 2008. The support of my fans, the country and the larger community has rooted me in immense gratitude that has sustained me through my career.
With every step and win, you all have been there for me, my Faith has always affirmed my trust in my journey.
Thank you for continuing to be with me today and every day.”
So yes, even though she made a statement, she didn’t give specifics as to why she actually pulled out, which led to fans and media being even more confused, and eventually a lot of people running with different narratives. Again, we’ll come back to that in just a second.
Breaking Down Why Shelly Pulled Out
But now in 2025, we finally got an explanation directly from Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce herself. Speaking with Emily Abbate for Marie Claire, Shelly provides context on what actually occurred leading up to and during the Paris Olympic Games. The article says:
There were headlines about an injury, but that didn’t seem exactly right. “Last year was very hard for me mentally and physically,” she says. “I’ve always done it for the flag and showed up to do it for my country. But what happened in Paris, that was a ‘me’ decision.”
So, as I noted earlier, there were initial reports that she had reaggravated her hamstring injury, but she never gave an explanation to the public at the time. So fans, media and the public kind of just had rumors to go off of. The article continues and says:
But when she arrived at the gate at Stade Annexe for her next run—the same gate she had entered the day before—she was denied access. “They tell me that the gate is closed, and I’m like, Well, the track is like right there and I used the gate yesterday. They tell me that they made the decision to not use the gate that morning.”
So this of course explains the videos that we had seen last year. Shelly wanted to get into the gate that she had used previously, but was denied entry on this day, right before the semi-finals. Sha’Carri Richardson was also there at the same time and blocked from entering that gate. The article continues and says:
Fraser-Pryce didn’t want to expend extra energy to walk the longer distance to another gate while carrying a heavy bag. She waited for at least 30 minutes, allowing the crew manning the entrance to make some calls, thinking eventually she’d be let in. “It wasn’t like there were a hundred people trying to go through the gate,” she says. “Walking to another entrance meant going by pedestrians and other attendees walking.”
During that time, a bus of athletes arrived from the Olympic Village, and she says that more eyes on her made her feel humiliated. With every passing moment, she was making a conscious effort not to get worked up or upset. News outlets would ultimately report on this, and a video surfaced on social media that showed her in a heated discussion with a stadium employee.
This context is very, very important. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was one of the most popular athletes competing at the Paris Olympic Games. You know how other athletes want photos with guys like LeBron James or Steph Curry? Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is almost that kind of athlete.
So going to another entrance, walking by people, having that bus of athletes go by, Shelly-Ann feeling humiliated and upset actually does make sense, because of all the attention, good or bad, but of course in this case it was definitely on the bad side. And think of the context. This is just hours before the 100m semi-finals, and possibly the final, at the Olympic Games in Paris. That is not easy for any athlete to deal with, let alone someone who commands all this unwanted attention at that specific moment. The article continues:
She would never be let in, and eventually, she walks to an alternate entrance, and begins her warm-up. There’s a rhythm to her routine, and traditionally, Fraser-Pryce gets to the track three hours before competing so she has time to get into a calm headspace, listen to her gospel music, and then begin her warm-ups. Because of the issue at the gate, she loses an hour.
Remember the context. This is her final Olympic Games, right before the semi-finals, one of the biggest moments of her life. Now she’s lost all that prep time. And in this semi-final, remember, Julien Alfred and Sha’Carri Richardson lined up side by side with Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
Remember what I said about one athlete not getting that automatic qualifying spot? At the 2023 Budapest World Championships, Sha’Carri Richardson finished third in her semi-final behind Marie-Josée Ta Lou as well as Shericka Jackson. And the conversation around her at that moment, even though she ran extremely fast, was that she didn’t perform well. She qualified on time and had to wait to see if she was going into the final.
Think about that aspect now put onto Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce after everything that had gone on up to that moment. That was potentially extra pressure that she did not want to deal with, especially considering she had lost all that time to prepare and get in the right headspace. The article continues, saying:
Things are off, she can feel it. During her final two reps on the track, she can sense her body “shutting down,” as painful muscle cramps wreak havoc in her legs, only rivaling the uneasy feeling in her gut.
Her mind is racing. She couldn’t go out on the track and blow it. She didn’t come this far to plummet like this. Her final Olympics race couldn’t end this way. “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]. I’m a warrior; I’m a fighter. I love rising to the occasion. I wanted to do it for my country, but I had to ask, What’s right for me?”
And so, as the public watched an Olympic semi-final with an empty center lane where Fraser-Pryce should have been, she was making her way back to her family, distraught. Upon arriving back to her Airbnb, her son saw her and asked, “Mommy, why didn’t you run?” The warrior dissolved into tears.
This here is the true reason why Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce pulled out of the Olympic Games in Paris last year. Both her body and mind just didn’t feel right.
It’s easy to say that she had to walk around and she lost warm-up time, and things like that, but that is just one aspect of losing the physical preparation that she needed to be able to run. But think about the mental aspect that she’s describing here as well. The toll that it’s taking on her body. The idea of this being her final Olympic Games. The idea of racing two of the fastest women in the world to make the final. The idea of showing up for her country of Jamaica like she had done, dating all the way back to 2008 when she won her first Olympic gold medal. The idea that if she doesn’t make it, it may be seen as a disappointment.
People would have still loved and appreciated Shelly-Ann regardless of what the results may be. But remember, she is still human, not just an athlete. She is also a human being, and she has emotions and feelings that she’s dealing with in this singular moment. And all these factors, both the physical and the mental aspects, are what led to her having this panic attack while she was warming up and preparing. She didn’t want to let the world down, but personally, she just couldn’t go forward.
And just to highlight how the mental aspect in this situation is just as important as the physical aspect, if we look back at Shelly-Ann’s career, she’s dealt with injuries entering World Championships and Olympic Games, and she’s been able to show up and compete. In 2011 at the World Championships in Daegu, she dealt with a calf injury but still competed in that final. At the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, she was dealing with a toe injury. In 2023, before the Budapest World Championships, she was dealing with a knee injury. Each time, though, she showed up, ran and competed.
Again, physical aspects did hold her back, and it’s not to say she wasn’t dealing with things on the mental side as well, but this moment was very different. All the factors coming together as a singular weight right before the semi-finals led to her deciding to not run.
Why Did She Take So Long to Explain?
When I initially read this article, I was maybe a bit confused as to why she waited so long to explain this, almost a full year later, when we had essentially seen exactly what happened, with her being blocked from the entrance, having to walk around, and all those kinds of details.
But I think this goes to what I just spoke about here: the mental aspect. That is really why I personally think she waited. That gate situation was only one aspect of the entire build-up which led to her pulling out. But after reading through a couple of times, this really does explain why she actually waited so long to come out about it.
It’s exactly what I noted about the mental aspect, the panic attack and the breakdown that she had. Think about when she said she felt humiliated, the embarrassment, feeling uneasy and upset. She was really feeling distraught in a moment where she had to be 100% on her game to compete to the best of her ability. This led to her literally having a panic attack as she was preparing to get on the track. All these little things are what she’s just revealing now, and she’s probably more comfortable being able to speak about them, so it’s understandable why it took a while for her to come out about it.
Shelly’s 2025 Retirement Season
So we’re now here in 2025, and Shelly actually explains why she chose to compete this year. The article says:
In the days, weeks, and months that followed, Fraser-Pryce went nowhere near a track. Instead, the morning after her exit, Fraser-Pryce was on a flight to New York City to spend time off-the-grid with her family near Canarsie, Brooklyn. She did the normal, touristy things: museums, Legoland, going to restaurants.
Being with the people who cared about her the most proved healing. She remembers one night, in the dark before bed, her husband telling her, “‘I know you weren’t sure about 2025, but if that’s something you want to do, you have my support,’” she recalls. “I felt so broken, his support gave me legs.”
There’s a release as Fraser-Pryce shares the story, a loosening of her shoulders, but it wasn’t always this way. She opens her phone and reads me a note she wrote to herself earlier this year about that time: “The last two years have been very difficult. The most painful. I felt abandoned, lost. I couldn’t express myself to anyone. I went through so much grief and sadness. But I’m giving God thanks for the ways he showed up for me, nonetheless.”
At the top of 2025, Shelly announced that she had unfinished business and posted a little highlight reel to Instagram. Late last year, she confirmed that she had left her coach, Reynaldo Walcott. And the Marie Claire article confirms for the first time that she is with coach Andre Wellington. He’s a former sprinter for Jamaica, and he was part of the 4x100 relay pool at the 2008 Olympic Games, but never actually ran in Beijing.
Now, in 2025 so far, Shelly-Ann opened up her season running a windy 10.94 seconds in the 100m in Kingston. She then ran the 4x100 at the World Relays in China with Shericka Jackson, the Clayton twins, as well as Natasha Morrison. And then at the Doha Diamond League, she ran the 100m in 11.05 seconds.
Right before the Jamaican National Championships, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce confirmed that 2025 would be her last season on the track, and the Jamaican National Championships would be her final time competing in Jamaica.
And what she wanted to do was qualify for her ninth World Championship team. She had made every single possible team from 2007 all the way to 2024. The only one she missed was 2017, but that’s because she was giving birth to her son.
Well, at the National Championships, she ran a 10.91 season’s best to finish third place and qualify in the 100m for the Tokyo World Championships.
Can She Medal in Tokyo?
So, as we look forward, can Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce actually win a medal at the World Championships later this summer? Well, yes, she definitely can, but it will be a very, very big challenge. There are a lot of young and talented athletes on the rise, of course, running much faster than Shelly, but we have to think about it.
Shelly is one of, if not the most, experienced athletes that will be competing at the Tokyo World Championships, and she’s arguably the most accomplished athlete that will be at the World Champs. So when it comes to competing in the 100m, I think that Shelly does have a chance. Again, it’ll be very, very challenging, but she knows what it takes to be ready. She knows what it takes to get on the podium, and she knows that it’s not going to be an easy path to the top, but anything is possible.
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