Imagine showing up to your kid’s school for sports day or field day and you enter a race against the other parents. You pull up to the starting line and next to you is an eight-time Olympic medalist, six-time World Champion and one of the greatest sprinters of all-time. You know how that race is going to go right?
That’s what happened when Jamaican sprint legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce showed up to her 4-year-old son Zyon’s school. The other parents didn’t stand a chance and while Pryce defeated the parents by an incredibly wide margin, she was likely nowhere near her peak speed.
The difference between pros and “regular Joes or Janes” is scary.
Fraser-Pryce said she didn’t intend to race and her coach advised her not to. But her son only captured a bronze in two races, and her husband didn’t win the gold in the male parent race. As an Olympian she felt the family name needed to be upheld and a gold medal was necessary.
“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.
“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 🥴
“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.
“We ended up getting two bronze medals, overall 4th place, a participation medal and a first place medal in the women’s parent race to redeem the Pryce family name.
“All in all I’m SO proud of my son and happy he enjoyed sports day ☺️,” Fraser-Pryce wrote on Instagram.
It’s nice to be able to pull mom out to win a gold when the family has got to have one. A fun day with the family for sure.
On to the rest of the outdoor track season for Fraser-Pryce.
She will head to Budapest, Hungary in August for the track and field World Championships, hoping to defend her 100 meters title and win her sixth overall in the event.
Fraser-Pryce also plans to compete and make the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France, her last hurrah.
“Yes, 2024 will definitely be my last Olympics. As I chase world championship and Olympic glory, the legacy that I leave off the track is important and my Pocket Rocket Foundation has been near and dear to me,” Fraser-Pryce told NBC Sports in February. “We’ve been trying to expand on what we do here in Jamaica and hopefully go regional. Being able to run fast and win medals is great, but using that platform to give young people the chance to succeed and balance education with sports and transcend their own thoughts and ideas is what I’m passionate about as well.”
Whether on a field at her son’s school or on the track at the biggest stadiums in the world, Fraser-Pryce is one of the best to ever do it.
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