‘I Really Beat Them Bad’ - Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Reveals Inspiration Behind Viral School Sports Day Race

Jamaican sprint legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has relived the moment when she destroyed fellow parents at a school’s sports day early this year.

Fraser-Pryce went viral when a clip of her showing fellow parents dust at a school event where her son Zyon attends was posted on social media, generating varied reactions.

While some thought she was ‘showing off,’ others lauded her competitive spirit and she has shared what went through her mind and the impact of that race on other parents.

“My mom ran at my sports day when I was in high school and primary school too. It’s important to continue that legacy,” she told Sportstar while reliving that race in April.

“But even so, when I went to my son’s sports day for the first time, I actually wasn’t planning on running because I was still in training at that time since the sports day is in April. I was thinking I’m not going to do anything outside my training.

“But all the kids were just so excited when it came to the parents’ races. They asked me, ‘Auntie Shelly, are you running?’ I still wasn’t running but then my son came up to me and said, ‘Mummy, are you running?’ Then, I had to run.”

Fraser-Pryce says there are some parents who wanted her to slow down or give them a head start and while she refused this request, what spurred her on was others who felt they had a chance against her.

“I remember getting to the line and I take every single race very seriously. People were saying you should slow down but there was no way I was doing that,” she added.

“The moment I hear a gun or a whistle, it’s time to start. It was pretty exciting for me because all the boys and girls that were there watching came alive because a lot of them probably wouldn’t have got the chance to see me race.

“Some of them [parents] did say that but a lot of them were very confident. They were telling me they were going to beat me. I think they all knew what was going to come.

“When I first went to the line, all of these parents were warming up. I found it hilarious because they actually thought they had a chance. I wasn’t going to take it easy. Some of them asked me to give them a head start and I said, ‘Nothing doing, there’s no such thing as a jump start in track and field. We’re all starting at the same line, and I’m going to wait on the gun and we’re going to run.’”

However, the positive sign to all that is that her win elicited a new-found love for running in a certain parent who took training seriously not just to impress her child at next year’s sports day but to improve her health.

“I remember one of the parents was actually videotaping the race on his drone and when I saw that footage I thought to myself, ‘Man, I really beat them bad.’ I want them to go home and say, ‘Oh my God, Shelly just destroyed us,’” she said.

“There was one parent out there who actually started working out. Her daughter is in the same grade as my son but in different classes (sections). So, she comes and works out every day. She sends me a picture of her working out in the gym, telling me, ‘Oh, I’m coming next year.’

“So, right now, I’m currently only training to beat her! She is my biggest competitor now,” said the 38-year-old mother of one.

Fraser-Pryce has since retired from track with the 2025 World Championships her final event and she has now dedicated her time fully on looking after her son.