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Going Against Coach’s Advice, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Competed in a Jamaican Race to Save Family Name

Published 04/05/2023, 6:15 AM EDT

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Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has been all over the internet for the last few days for winning a race. Well, that’s nothing new, as she is known for that. However, what made it special this time was the venue and the type of race she competed in. The 3x Olympic champion competed in a parent’s race at her 5-year-old son’s sports day. The video of her running on the school track with other mothers has gone viral on social media. Indeed, she won the gold, and there wasn’t any doubt about that. However, what makes it intriguing is the backstory of the race.

After the video went viral, Fraser-Pryce recently shared a compilation of multiple videos from sports day on her Instagram. Moreover, she also revealed the reason why she competed, even after getting a red flag from her coach. Here’s what she said.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce disclosed she never thought of competing in such a race 

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To sum up her son’s sports day, Fraser-Pryce shared a video on Instagram with her fans. The video depicts four races in total, two in which her son competed, and the two where she and her husband, Jason competed. And the first three were the reason they needed to have the fourth one.

As she shared the video, Fraser-Pryce began by writing about the sports meet she went to. Moreover, she also disclosed she had no intentions at all to compete in the race. She wrote, “Last Friday was Sports Day at Zyon’s school!! I feel like I’ve been waiting all my life for this moment 😂⁠ I initially had no intention of running in the parent race — even my coach advised me not to run but my teammates weren’t doing so hot.”

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What made her compete even after her coach denied her to do so? Let’s find out.

It was more than just a race; it was about reputation

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has been one of the best female athletes on this planet, and winning is a habit for her. So an athlete of that caliber would never want to go home without a shining medal. And this is what exactly happened on the sports day. As the champion shared the adorable video of the family, which included her son, her husband, and herself competing in the race, she humorously disclosed the reason behind her participation.

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Fraser-Pryce further wrote in her post, “Zyon ran his first race and fell. He tried again and got bronze in the obstacle race. So, I sent Jason to handle business and bring home the gold in the male-parent race, but that didn’t go so well either 🥴.” In the end, the Olympic champion had to come on the field to save the reputation of her family by winning a gold medal. As she confessed, “And as an olympian, it just didn’t make sense for us to leave without bringing home a single piece of gold 🥇 so I decided to race.”

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The family ended up in the fourth position overall and had a wonderful time at the sports event. The champion also revealed that she is proud of her son for the way he pulled himself back after falling in his first race. Moreover, he came back stronger in the second race and won the bronze medal. Yes, she had to go against her coach’s advice, but in the end, it was all worth it for the quality day they spent together. 

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Written by:

Kaivalya R Pillai

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Dr. Kaivalya R Pillai is a US Sports author working at EssentiallySports. An accomplished academician, he recently completed his doctorate degree in pharmacy.
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Edited by:

Simar Singh Wadhwa