Double Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce withdraws from women's 100m semi-final at Paris Games
Fraser-Pryce, competing at her fifth Games at the age of 37 and the winner of two golds, a silver and a bronze over 100m, had been due to run in the second heat
Jamaica's double champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce pulled out of the women's Olympic 100m semi-finals shortly before the first of three heats on Saturday.
Fraser-Pryce, competing at her fifth Games at age 37 and the winner of two golds, a silver and a bronze over 100m, had been due to run in the second heat but appeared as a "did not start" in the official start lists.
Fraser-Pryce won the 100m race in 2008 and 2012 and had said that Paris will be her final Olympics. She is not entered in the 200m race.
The Jamaican gave no immediate reason for withdrawing. She was scheduled to run in the same heat as Sha’Carri Richardson, who reached the final after clocking 10.89s. She finished second in the semi-final, with Julien Alfred of St. Lucia clocking 10.84s.
Interestingly, before the semifinal, Fraser-Pryce was reportedly denied access to the warm-up area, with officials stating that she could not use the facilities unless she arrived on the team bus.
Fraser-Pryce is the oldest woman to win the 100m World Championship title in Doha, achieving the feat in 2019. She reinforced her remarkable achievement by securing the title once again at the age of 35 in Eugene in 2022, 14 years after her initial Olympic gold triumph.