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published: Thursday | September 18, 2008
Anthony Foster, Gleaner Writer
Shelly-Ann Fraser speaks during a reception held to welcome her and Markino Buckley back to the island on Monday at the VIP lounge of the Norman Manley International Airport. - Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer
OLYMPIC 100-METRES champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser, believes hard work was what brought her Beijing success, and she is not done yet.
Fraser, the first Jamaican woman to win an Olympic Games 100m title - running 10.78 seconds, hinted at bettering that mark and challenging Merlene Ottey's national record of 10.74.
Fraser, who had started the season with a personal best of 11.31 seconds, said: "10.78 is good, but I know I can go much, much faster ... much, much faster," she told a reception for Olympic 400m hurdles finalist Markino Buckley and herself at the Norman Manley International Airport's VIP lounge on Monday evening.
Ottey set the national mark in 1996, but Fraser believes "it's all for me to achieve and it's for me to work hard towards."
Fraser said a lot of scarifies were made for her to achieve Olympic glory.
"I worked extremely hard," said Fraser, who said she cried when called upon to run the 400m, which is a part of her programme.
"But I put my mind to all of that and I said to myself, there is so much I want in life, that I have to make sacrifices," she said.
The Olympic champion said her family, especially her mother (Maxine Simpson), who was a street-side vendor in her high school days, was also at the forefront of everything.
"The reason why I did it was for them," she said. "She (mother) is the reason why I woke up every morning and said I am not going to quit," continued Fraser, who said she had hated to see her mom selling on the street.
"I might run a 400m and pass out, but it keeps flashing in my mind that I have a mother, brothers and family whom I want to take care of in the future. I want to make sure that they are happy and so, with all of that in mind, I made sure to do everything coach (Stephen Francis) said.
Fraser, a former student at Wolmer's Girls, also spoke highly of the support she received from UTech/MVP.
We survived
"At UTech/MVP, we make use of what we have ... most times it's not much, but we survived and that is one of the reasons why we achieved so much," she said.
"We don't have the best facilities, like the Americans. We have to train in the rain most times and still have to get up and go to class," she said. "But there is always support at UTech, so everything was just destined to happen," continued the CARIFTA Games 100m bronze medallist.
In Beijing, Fraser spoke of her journey throughout the rounds.
"In the first round, nobody was expecting anything ... yes, they knew I came second at the trials, but maybe they were saying that was a one run, she can't come here and do that, so I said 'okay then', with that in mind, I was just focused to go out there and execute properly.
"All eight of us on that start (line) wanted to win but all of us could not win, so I prayed for technique and asked God to help me remember what to do.
Comfortable
"The first round was good, and in the second round I felt comfortable, the third round was a little bit shaky because I started getting extremely nervous because I was getting so close to the final," said Fraser, who opened up with 11.35, then had 11.06 in the quarter-finals and 11.00 in the semis.
Before the start of the final, Fraser said she decided to "stay relaxed and smile."
"When the announcer called my name, I smiled and waved and said I am ready, so whoever isn't ready, I am sorry for them.
"All I was focused on was just the sound of the gun," added Fraser, who blazed out of the blocks and could not be caught.
In the end, she won by about five metres and pumped her arms in the air in joy several times before taking her victory lap.
"I was excited ... I could not cry because I spent all the days before that crying ... I was happy, it was joy, I was excited, it was everything, my braces hurt for days, I could not close my mouth," said Fraser.
Anthony Foster, Gleaner Writer
Shelly-Ann Fraser speaks during a reception held to welcome her and Markino Buckley back to the island on Monday at the VIP lounge of the Norman Manley International Airport. - Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer
OLYMPIC 100-METRES champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser, believes hard work was what brought her Beijing success, and she is not done yet.
Fraser, the first Jamaican woman to win an Olympic Games 100m title - running 10.78 seconds, hinted at bettering that mark and challenging Merlene Ottey's national record of 10.74.
Fraser, who had started the season with a personal best of 11.31 seconds, said: "10.78 is good, but I know I can go much, much faster ... much, much faster," she told a reception for Olympic 400m hurdles finalist Markino Buckley and herself at the Norman Manley International Airport's VIP lounge on Monday evening.
Ottey set the national mark in 1996, but Fraser believes "it's all for me to achieve and it's for me to work hard towards."
Fraser said a lot of scarifies were made for her to achieve Olympic glory.
"I worked extremely hard," said Fraser, who said she cried when called upon to run the 400m, which is a part of her programme.
"But I put my mind to all of that and I said to myself, there is so much I want in life, that I have to make sacrifices," she said.
The Olympic champion said her family, especially her mother (Maxine Simpson), who was a street-side vendor in her high school days, was also at the forefront of everything.
"The reason why I did it was for them," she said. "She (mother) is the reason why I woke up every morning and said I am not going to quit," continued Fraser, who said she had hated to see her mom selling on the street.
"I might run a 400m and pass out, but it keeps flashing in my mind that I have a mother, brothers and family whom I want to take care of in the future. I want to make sure that they are happy and so, with all of that in mind, I made sure to do everything coach (Stephen Francis) said.
Fraser, a former student at Wolmer's Girls, also spoke highly of the support she received from UTech/MVP.
We survived
"At UTech/MVP, we make use of what we have ... most times it's not much, but we survived and that is one of the reasons why we achieved so much," she said.
"We don't have the best facilities, like the Americans. We have to train in the rain most times and still have to get up and go to class," she said. "But there is always support at UTech, so everything was just destined to happen," continued the CARIFTA Games 100m bronze medallist.
In Beijing, Fraser spoke of her journey throughout the rounds.
"In the first round, nobody was expecting anything ... yes, they knew I came second at the trials, but maybe they were saying that was a one run, she can't come here and do that, so I said 'okay then', with that in mind, I was just focused to go out there and execute properly.
"All eight of us on that start (line) wanted to win but all of us could not win, so I prayed for technique and asked God to help me remember what to do.
Comfortable
"The first round was good, and in the second round I felt comfortable, the third round was a little bit shaky because I started getting extremely nervous because I was getting so close to the final," said Fraser, who opened up with 11.35, then had 11.06 in the quarter-finals and 11.00 in the semis.
Before the start of the final, Fraser said she decided to "stay relaxed and smile."
"When the announcer called my name, I smiled and waved and said I am ready, so whoever isn't ready, I am sorry for them.
"All I was focused on was just the sound of the gun," added Fraser, who blazed out of the blocks and could not be caught.
In the end, she won by about five metres and pumped her arms in the air in joy several times before taking her victory lap.
"I was excited ... I could not cry because I spent all the days before that crying ... I was happy, it was joy, I was excited, it was everything, my braces hurt for days, I could not close my mouth," said Fraser.