The world witnessed an end to a salty rivalry. After gaining dominance over Jamaica on 100-meter tracks, sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson cleared the air by showing her admiration for the 36-year-old Jamaican legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. “I grew up watching her,” said Richardson. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who was seated right beside her, made a funny face at this revelation. This caused a lot of laughter at the press conference.

Fraser-Pryce created a lot of noise at the Olympics in Beijing (2008). She was 21 at that time and the youngest of the finalists at her first Olympics. Richardson would have been merely an 8 or 9-year-old. Now another track and field has shown her admiration for Fraser-Pryce by posting a “Then vs Now” picture.

An old picture of Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce goes viral

On September 23, Kemba Nelson posted heartwarming pictures with Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce on Twitter. In the photographs captioned “Then vs Now,” accompanied by a mind-blowing emoji, Nelson was seen smiling alongside a younger Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce for the camera. In the second picture, the two athletes are spotted proudly holding the silver medals they secured at the 2022 World Athletics Championship.

In the 2022 event, Kemba Nelson joined the iconic trio of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson Herah, and Shericka Jackson to secure the silver for the team, while the United States won the event in 41.14 seconds. Interestingly, 23-year-old Nelson, who is currently a part of Oregon Ducks, a track and field program of Oregon University, was also training with Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce three years before participating with her at the Worlds.

After the relay race, in an interview, Nelson told the media, “I trained with her three years ago before I transferred to Oregon. It wasn’t really training with her, but she was always there. We ran a few races together.”

Further, the sprinter added, “She’s very determined and hardworking. She will push me to something crazy, and I feel like just being among the best and training one of the best will really make me want more.”

Also read: Despite US-Sweden Rivalry, Sha’Carri Richardson Found Her Closest Friend in Another Nation’s Team During World Athletics Championships

Clearly, Nelson and Sha’Carri Richardson really look up to Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. After all, both are young athletes and Fraser-Pryce has been in the business for a long time. Her longevity in track and field never fails to amaze people.

Sha’Carri Richardson pours love for Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce

At the 2023 World Athletics Championship, Sha’Carri Richardson surpassed two Jamaican legends, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson, to clinch her gold in 10.65 seconds. However, after the race, in an interview, Sha’Carri Richardson cleared the air by expressing her admiration for Jamaican legend Fraser-Pryce. While discussing participating against Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the LSU sensation told the media, “I just want to say she is an amazing athlete; it’s great, honestly. It was going to take my best to come forward and be able to compete knowing that she’s been doing this.”

In essence, after displaying her prowess on the tracks for years, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce truly deserves to be an inspiration and idol for the soaring track and field stars. Hopefully, now Nelson will continue to steal all the social media brownie points by posting more rare pictures of Fraser-Pryce.

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