Dear Editor,

It would be unfair of me not to declare at the very beginning that I am Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s most ardent supporter. I confess to extreme bias whenever she happens to be the topic of conversation.

It should come as no surprise, therefore, that I was the most elated Jamaican upon hearing of her 9.63 seconds over the 100 metres. Anyone who understands the human body will agree that, for a woman, this feat is only accomplished after many years of dedication, discipline, denial, and devotion. And this is why my elation is always clouded by what I regard as an injustice in the field of track athletics. What I call the Flo-Joke. A problem that has denied further greatness to all female sprinters since Hurricane Gilbert. In fact, Gilbert was only the second hurricane that year – after Florence “Flo-Jo” Griffith Joyner.

During the 1984 Olympics she caught my attention not only for her performance, but also her nails and the outfits she wore on the track. I rated her as ‘quite good’, but definitely not ‘great’. Fast-forward to the 1988 Olympics and everybody gasped. She appeared in the stadium, in front of a stunned world, as a muscle-bound figure using her outrageous running suits to partially hide her new physique. A thick layer of make-up did a fair job in covering acne, facial hair, and an elongated jawline. Perhaps the scariest part, an athlete told me, was the “deep, masculine-sounding” voice she had developed. My first thought, after seeing a close-up shot a fellow athlete had sent to me, was that she was in the early stages of acromegaly — a condition which results in the enlargement of body organs and the face, hands, and feet become thickened.

Florence Griffith Joyner left the other runners way down the track and rocketed to new world records in the 100 metres and 200 meters of 10.49secs and 21.34 secs, respectively. Those times were 0.29 secs and 0.37 secs faster than previous records.

After the world records in the 100m and 200m, she returned to the track to anchor the 4x100m relay to another world record. Then, incredibly, she appeared on the track again to run a leg of the 4x400m relay for a silver medal.

In response to the loud whispers Flo-Jo attributed her new physique and performance to her new diet of water, vitamins, fish, and chicken. Then added, “I know exactly what they are saying. They can come and test me every week. I have nothing to hide.” That would not be necessary, however, as she wasted no time sprinting into retirement and out of reach of testers. Ten years later she died mysteriously in her sleep. She was just 38 years old.

Glenn Tucker

glentucker2011@gmail.com