What is believed to be her final race, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce added one last medal to end her legendary 17-year career, earning a silver medal for Jamaica in the women’s 4×100 metres relay on the final day of the World Athletics Championships in Japan.
The Jamaican quartet of Fraser-Pryce, Tia Clayton, Tina Clayton, and Jonielle Smith clocked 41.79 seconds, finishing just four hundredths of a second behind the United States team that claimed gold in 41.75. Germany took bronze with 41.87.
The victory was historic for the USA’s Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, who became only the second woman ever to complete the world sprint treble by adding relay gold to her 100m and 200m titles from Tokyo.
Jefferson-Wooden matched the distinguished feat Fraser-Pryce achieved at the 2013 championships in Moscow.
Throughout her career, Fraser-Pryce secured three Olympic golds and 10 world titles among her 25 global championship medals, and she made sure her farewell was memorable.
Running the lead-off leg, she passed over smoothly to Tia Clayton, who then handed over to her sister Tina, before anchor Jonielle Smith brought the team home to secure the podium finish.
Jamaica’s success on the track continued in the women’s 4x400m, where Dejanae Oakley, Stacey Ann Williams, Andrenette Knight, and Nickisha Pryce raced to a silver medal in 3:19.25.
They finished behind the extraordinary American squad, led by Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone on anchor, that shattered the championship record with a time of 3:16.61. With 400m hurdles champion Femke Bol on the anchor, the Netherlands took bronze.
With the two relay silvers, Jamaica concluded its campaign at the Tokyo World Championships with 10 medals: one gold, six silver, and three bronze.
