10.59secs?
Olympic medallist Ato Boldon thinks Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce can run faster than the new Jamaican national record 10.63 seconds for the 100m that she ran at Saturday’s Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA)/Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) Olympic Destiny Series 3 at the National Stadium.
Fraser-Pryce became the fourth female ever to go under the 10.70-second barrier in the 100m and became the second fastest woman ever with the fastest time in 33 years.
“No question,” Boldon told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.
“She’s early in her 100m season — it wasn’t her typical aggressive start — she will go faster this year I have zero doubt of that — and 0.04 faster and she’s at 10.59 seconds.”
She is the second best performer, only behind the world record 10.49 seconds set in 1988 by the late American Florence Griffith-Joyner, known as Flo-Jo, and her run last weekend saw her break her previous 10.70 seconds for which she was joint national record holder with Elaine Thompson Herah. It took her past Americans Marion Jones with 10.65 seconds and Carmelita Jeter with 10.64 seconds on the all-time list.
Fraser-Pryce, who is arguably the greatest female sprinter of all time, has an enviable record that saw her winning 17 global medals, including four individual medals at the Olympic Games and five at the World Championships.
Her tally includes two Olympic Games 100m gold medals, four 100m titles and two 200m titles at the World Championships, as well as seven relay medals at the Olympic Games and World Championships.
Pocket Rocket, as the diminutive Fraser-Pryce has been nicknamed, has also won a gold medal in the World Indoor Championships 60m and has never lost a race in the Diamond League — 15 100m races and two 200m as well as two 4x100m relays.
Boldon, who coaches national junior record holder Briana Williams at their Florida base, says American Sha’Carrie Richardson, whose 10.72 seconds world lead Fraser-Pryce took over could join the rarefied air of sub-10.70 seconds as well.
“I said Sha’Carrie could, too, after Mt SAC [San Antonio College] and that 10.7 into a 1.1 wind. The maths says it’s likely, actually.”
Richardson had run 10.74 seconds (1.1m/s) in the preliminaries then 10.77 seconds (-1.2m/s) in the final at the Mt SAC meet on May 9.
Fraser-Pryce has run the 100m only four times so far this year, including two rounds at the opening Wanda Diamond League meet at Gateshead, England, and Boldon thinks getting more races under her belt as well as a new shoes technology pioneered by Nike, her sponsors, could result in faster times.
“I think those shoes and her just getting fitter as the season goes on…it’s going to happen.”