Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the most decorated woman sprinter in history, admitted on Thursday she finds it increasingly challenging to balance family life with her career on the track.
The 38-year-old Jamaican, speaking in Doha on the eve of her first appearance in a Diamond League meeting for three years, described life with her seven-year-old son Zyon as “hectic”.
Zyon provided one of the enduring images of the 2019 world championships in the Qatari capital when Fraser-Pryce carried the then toddler around the track after winning the 100m.
The five-time 100m world champion said Zyon enjoys playing football and chess and she tries to be at as many of his tournaments as her training schedule allows.
“We have homework with her son and we’re still training at 5:00 am and I must say it has been very difficult in the past year because he is much more aware, he is so involved in school,” she said at a press conference.
“We have so much else going on so splitting the time between those things can be challenging… Some days are good, some days are not so good.”
For the last two years, social media videos of Fraser-Pryce roaring to victory in the parents’ race at Zyon’s sports day have gone viral.
With a broad smile, the sprinter who also won the 2008 and 2012 Olympic 100m titles made no apologies for running nearly flat out in those races, leaving her amateur competitors tens of metres behind.
“It is important to show up for my son and that I show up as I am,” she said.
“The pride and that joy I actually saw in his face when I crossed that line was truly special,” she added.
In what is likely to be her last season before retiring from the track, she said she was looking forward to her 100m on Friday, when she will take on rising Jamaican star Tia Clayton.
“I again look forward to having a spectacular evening tomorrow and I’m excited about that,” she said.
—AFP
