Athletics-Fraser-Pryce sets fastest 100m time in 33 years

By Kayon Raynor

KINGSTON (Reuters) - Jamaican sprint darling Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce became the second-fastest woman of all time behind 100 metres world record holder Florence Griffith-Joyner when she clocked 10.63 seconds at a meet in Kingston on Saturday.

Double Olympic champion Fraser-Pryce, who laid down a marker ahead of next month's Tokyo Olympics with her searing sprint, said her speed had taken ever her by surprise.

"Honestly no... I never expected I would run 10.6 and think it's a good thing because there was no pressure," Fraser-Pryce told reporters even as she screamed with excitement.

"I just wanted to get one run in before the (June 24-27) national championships and that's what I was really looking forward to."

American Griffith-Joyner still holds the women's 100 metres world record of 10.49 seconds, set in Indianapolis in 1988, as well as the three fastest times ever, with 10.61 and 10.62, also in 1988.

But Fraser-Pryce shaved 0.01 seconds off Carmelita Jeter's 10.64 set in 2009 to climb behind Griffith-Joyner on the all-time list.

Running in an empty stadium in Kingston at the JOA/JAAA's Destiny Series, she decimated the field in the first of three heats from a rocket start, to finish ahead of former world championship finalist Natasha Morrison.

Fraser-Pryce, the reigning world champion after winning gold in Doha in 2019, said she had already set her sights on her next target.

"I'm lost for words because 10.6 has been a dream, a goal, I've been working so hard, being so patient to see it finally unfold. I'm so ecstatic," added the 34-year-old, who set her previous personal best of 10.70 seconds nine years ago.

"If I'm able to run 10.6 now... I'm just looking forward to what the process will bring. I'm continuing the work because I did say that this year I wanted nothing more than to break the 10.7 barrier and I did it.

"But now the focus is on making the national team then taking it from there. This is just one part of the puzzle, so you can't get too complacent and comfortable."

(Reporting by Kayon Raynor in Kingston, additional reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Pritha Sarkar)