Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce blazed to a 10.77 second 100-meter dash for a new world leading time during the semi-final round of the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games. She finished fourth in the final, but left the Olympic Stadium pleased with her weekend of work. 

On July 18, Fraser-Pryce and defending 100-meter World Champion Carmelita Jeter walked out of a press conference when asked about doping following the positive test results by American Tyson Gay and five Jamaican athletes. 

When asked if a fast performance like Saturday’s is what the sport needs at this time, Fraser-Pryce openly spoke about the positive tests. We have transcribed her quote from the audio interview, where the question is first asked at the 2:56 mark.

“Those things happen and it’s unfortunate that it happened. I’m in the sport and do I understand that I can not speak for the athletes who are involved. At the same time, I know it’s painful and I know how they must be feeling, because two or three years ago, I took a painkiller. It was devasting even though it wasn’t a performance enhancer, it was just a pain killer, so I can understand what they’re going through. We never know. Each person’s circumstances are way different. We don’t know what’s behind the scenes and of course we wait for due process. Hopefully for the rest of the athletes who are here, we continue to inspire the fans to come out, support and do our best.”



In 2010, Fraser-Pryce served a six month ban after testing positive for Oxycodone at the Shanghai Diamond League meeting. She claims she took a painkiller to relieve a toothache and was not aware of the banned substance contained. She was given the painkiller by Stephen Francis, who coaches MVP Track Club. 

As Fraser-Pryce will return to Lignano, Italy for more training before the IAAF World Championships in Moscow. 
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Chris Chavez is a staff writer for Flotrack and a journalism major at Marquette University. He once beat Joey Fatone of NSYNC in a half-marathon. Feel free to to reach him with any questions, comments, or feedback on Twitter or by email.