.. as sprint icon prepares to retire

“WHILE your speed will undoubtedly leave a legacy on the sport, I truly believe that it is your strength that will genuinely shape the future generation of the sport.”
With those words, Brett Holts, Nike’s Vice President of Global Running Sports Marketing, paid an emotional tribute to Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, on Monday night, as the Jamaican sprint legend formally announced her decision to retire at the end of the 2025 season.

Hosted by Nike on the AC Hotel’s pool deck in Kingston, the cocktail reception brought together some of the island’s most influential figures, including Prime Minister Andrew Holness, Minister of Sport, Olivia Grange, and Opposition Leader, Mark Golding, to honour the indelible legacy of one of the greatest athletes in track and field history.
It was also the night Fraser-Pryce shared a bold new initiative with Nike to eliminate barefoot sprinting at the primary school level in Jamaica—a cause close to her heart and a reflection of her own humble beginnings at George Headley Primary. She vowed that the programme will ensure young athletes receive proper footwear as they begin their journey.

Holts, speaking on behalf of the global sportswear giant, took the audience through a moving recollection of Nike’s 17-year journey with Fraser-Pryce, beginning in 2008.
“You are one of the longest Nike partnerships that we have,” Holts said. “And I do recognise that the partnership has not always been an effortless start. Out of the blocks, we’ve encompassed significant triumphs together and considerable challenges… This journey has demanded extraordinary strength to reach our current position.”

That strength, Holts emphasised, has not only defined Fraser-Pryce’s sprinting career but has also elevated Nike itself.
“I extend my sincere personal gratitude to you for exemplifying such remarkable strength—because that has also made Nike stronger,” he said.

He recalled a recent meeting with Fraser-Pryce in Portland, where the sprinter made it clear that 2025 needed to be a year of celebration and that she was far from finished. “You better be damn sure I’m showing up to win the World Championships in Tokyo,” she had told him. That ambition, Holts said, would mark a poetic return to Japan—the country where Fraser-Pryce won her first global medal in 2007 as part of Jamaica’s 4x100m relay team in Osaka.

“Tokyo will be a full-circle moment for you,” Holts said. “And since then, those accomplishments—because we do keep track—have been incredibly impressive: three Olympic gold medals, 10 individual World Championship titles… You’ve established yourself as the most victorious female track and field athlete in history.”

But beyond the medals and records, Holts said it was Fraser-Pryce’s example—her courage, resilience, and grace—that would ultimately define her impact.
“In that same conversation, you reminded us that above all, it’s winning that matters most. And you have always been a true winner,” he said. “Nike is committed to standing by you and building that future together.”

As the evening unfolded with laughter, nostalgia, and quiet reflection, it became clear that Fraser-Pryce’s legacy isn’t ending—it’s evolving. Her final season will not only be a celebration of one of track and field’s greatest sprinters but a continuation of her mission to uplift others, especially Jamaica’s next generation.

With Nike at her side, Fraser-Pryce is poised to close one chapter and begin another—not from the starting blocks, but from a place of enduring strength. (Sportsmax)