Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Shares How Retirement Has Left Her in A Grieving Process

Jamaican sprint legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce feels her retirement from track is akin to a sudden loss of a loved one which needs time to grieve.

Fraser-Pryce ended her illustrious 18-year running career in September when she signed off with a silver medal in 4x100m at the 2025 World Championships in Japan.

It is a career that brought her lots of medals, including five 100m world titles and two Olympics golds over the distance, as well as a number of records and after such a long time following a strict programme, not being able to do it has had its toll on the 38-year-old.

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Fraser-Pryce says while retirement is enjoyable, the side effects is that she is left struggling to cope with her new normal, which feels like losing someone close, and she has decided to go through the grieving process to fully internalize everything.

“Right now, it’s really about just realignment and just really allowing myself to decompress,” Fraser-Pryce told Indian network Sports Star.

“It has been 18 years. Some people think you had a great career and it’s lovely. But it’s still something that you’ve been doing for a long time, 18 years. So, you still will have to grieve the process.”

“And I think grieving the process is not a bad thing. It’s realising that I don’t get to wake up five o ‘clock in the morning. I don’t get to go to training every day. The reality is this was something that I loved,” added the mother of one.

“This is not something that I did just as a hobby. This is something that was a daily routine. This was something that was a part of who I am. That gave me so many different platforms and allowed me in different spaces.”

Fraser-Pryce confirmed that she has dedicated her time to her businesses as well as her son, who now has her full attention, after having to deal with his mother’s absence for years as she travelled around the world to compete.