Jamaica’s two-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has become the second fastest woman in history after running 10.63 seconds at the JAAA/JOA Olympic Destiny Meet on Saturday morning in Kingston, Jamaica. Coming in second place was Natasha Morrison with 10.95 seconds.
Only one woman, Florence Griffith Joyner, in history has run a faster women’s 100-meter race than Fraser-Pryce did on Saturday. Griffith-Joyner blazed to a world record of 10.49 seconds in 1988 before retiring less than a year later.
Fraser-Pryce, 34, blow away the competition destroying the national record of 10.70 which she shared with Jamaican Elaine Thompson-Herah, who won the 100 gold at the 2016 Olympics.
Fraser-Pryce’s time surpasses the 10.72 seconds run by American Sha’Carri Richardson as the fastest time in the world this year. Her performance on Saturday is an improvement of 0.07 seconds on her previous personal best of 10.70, set in 2012.
According to Yahoo Sports, Fraser-Pryce’s 10.63 is the fourth-fastest time ever recorded, and the fastest any woman has run the 100 since Flo-Jo ran the three fastest times ever in 1988 (10.49, 10.61 and 10.62).
“First I must thank God for this. I am a bit surprised to run that fast, as the goal was to come and put in a good one before the National Championships as the main goal was on execution,” said Fraser-Pryce.
Fraser-Pryce’s performance now makes her the new 100m favorite over 21-year-old American Sha’Carri Richardson heading into the Tokyo Olympics next month, according to NBC Sports.
This spring Richardson had times of 10.72, 10.74 and 10.77. Thompson-Herah had been trailing behind Richardson with a 10.78, and Fraser-Pryce had been behind both of them with a 10.84 until her big victory on Saturday.
Fraser-Pryce who came back from having a baby to win the 2019 World Championships, would be the oldest woman to win an individual Olympic sprint title, and also the first woman ever to win three Olympic golds in a single track and field discipline.
