TOKYO, Japan, CMC – In what is believed to be the final race of her legendary 17-year career, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce added one last medal to her staggering collection, anchoring a silver medal performance for Jamaica in the women’s 4x100m relay on the final day of the World Athletics Championships here on Sunday.
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 a dominant United States team that claimed gold in 41.75. Germany took the bronze with 41.87.
The victory cemented a historic meet 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, she matched the iconic feat Fraser-Pryce herself achieved at the 2013 championships in Moscow.
Fraser-Pryce, who boasts three Olympic golds and ten world titles among her 25 global championship medals, made sure her farewell was a memorable one.
Running the lead-off leg, she handed over smoothly to Tia Clayton, who passed to her sister Tina, before anchor Jonielle Smith brought the team home to secure the podium finish.
In the meantime, Jamaica’s success on the track continued in the women’s 4x400m, where the team of Dejanae Oakley, Stacey Ann Williams, Andrenette Knight, and Nickisha Pryce raced to a silver medal in 3:19.25.
They finished behind a phenomenal American squad, led by Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone on anchor, that shattered the championship record with a time of 3:16.61. The Netherlands, with 400m hurdles champion Femke Bol on the anchor, took bronze.
There was heartbreak, however, for the Jamaican men’s 4x400m team, who finished a disappointing seventh. The day belonged to Botswana, whose quartet delivered a thrilling, nail-biting victory.
Individual 400m world champion Busang Collen Kebinatshipi ran a stunning anchor leg, hunting down American Rai Benjamin in the final meters to steal the win in 2:57.76.
The USA took silver, just 0.07 seconds behind, while South Africa, powered by world record holder Wayde van Niekerk, claimed bronze.
With the two relay silvers, Jamaica concluded its campaign at the Tokyo World Championships with a final medal tally of 10: one gold, six silver, and three bronze.
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