BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce came into the 100-meter finals at the world championships Monday with every chance to make history, as she has so many times before.
She made some history — by winning her first bronze medal among the 15 she has amassed at worlds — just maybe not the sort she was hoping for.
Fraser-Pryce's quest to win a sixth world title at 100 meters and tie pole vaulter Sergey Bubka's record for an individual discipline came to an end at the hands of American Sha'Carri Richardson. Fraser-Pryce's Jamaican teammate, Shericka Jackson, finished second.
“You don’t have to always know the answer. You just have to come and fight,” Fraser-Pryce said. “And tonight, I’m really grateful that I’m walking away with a bronze medal.”
Even though Fraser-Pryce seldom raced this year — and hadn't cracked 10.8 seconds — because of an injured knee, she entered the 100 in Budapest as the favorite. Her odds got even better when she cruised through her semifinal heat while Richardson, Jackson and Marie-Josée Ta Lou were forced to battle it out in a much tougher semifinal.
But Richardson had plenty left in the final. Though Fraser-Pryce got off to a better start than either the winner or Jackson, she couldn't hold either of them off. Her quest for three straight world titles came to an end. It hardly makes her career less remarkable.
Her first title came in 2009. Her last two came after she had a baby boy, Zyon, who recently turned 6. Scattered through all that, there are eight Olympic medals, including three golds.
“I literally, I grew up watching her,” Richardson said, spurring a bout of embarrassed laughter from both.
While taking home the gold remains her motivation — “Nobody shows up at the line saying, ‘Oh, I want to come fifth,’” Fraser-Pryce said — there was little sign that missing out this time had dampened her ambitions.
“It wasn’t the year that I wanted in terms of ... injuries,” she said. “But I think champion’s show it, no matter what.”
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