Lane 5 was empty today at the Stade de France. It was meant to save space for the maestro, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. But at the last minute, her backing out of the women’s 100m sprint created a vacancy in that fateful Lane, especially in the track world today. Expectedly, this question has come chasing why the 37-year-old Jamaican didn’t show up at the race while she had been present in the field. In the morning, along with Sha’Carri Richardson, she was stopped at the gate by the officials entering the warm-up zone. At that moment, Shelly-Ann complained about the sudden change in the rules. Is that the factor leaving her away from the actual corner? Meanwhile, a host has something valuable to add. 

Commonly known as Tee, the sports host blamed the injury for blocking Shelly-Ann’s route to her last Olympic semifinal. “I’m hearing injury”, she pointed out. In the meantime, she found support from renowned Jamaican sports journalist Trishana C. McGowan. After the scheduled semi-final race today, the sports journalist mentioned that the 10-time world champion had felt uneasy in her hamstring during the warm-up session today. That may have led her to scratch out of the semifinal round. However, this is eerily similar to what another track legend Usain Bolt had to face in 2017.

Today, the ‘Mommy rocket’ felt disgruntled over her lapse of time to start her warm-up. Just like Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Bolt had a similar experience before his last race, the 4x100m relay in the 2017 World Athletics Championships. He had to wait for 45 minutes after his warm-up for the actual race to take place. Later, in the relay, he failed to continue his split because of the hamstring pull. Meanwhile, according to the updates, both Shelly-Ann and Sha’Carri Richardson had to cover another distance to reach the warm-up area at the Stade de France, before the semi-final sprint. Did that play any role in resulting in the injury? No one knows. Yet, Bolt’s suffering may create a few dots. 

Still, the Paris Olympics will be the first Olympics after 2004 Athens, when Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will not compete in the 100m. That’s how things ended for the legend at the Olympic Games. Undoubtedly, it will swirl around the athletic world in the upcoming future. Subsequently, the arguments and counterarguments will also follow this departure, as there is already one floating. 

Has Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce pointed toward a deeper issue? 

In the shared clip online, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce could be seen indicating the overnight change of the rules at the Paris Olympics. In the same clip, she stated that the official had barred her from entering the warm-up zone because she needed special accreditation, as she was not living at the Games Village. But yesterday, that rule had not been applied to her. Additionally, because of the rule, she missed the warm-up today. As per another track and field raconteur, OwenM, the actual reason may have been this. 

Today, after the fiasco, the well-known X-handle posted, “Eurosport are SUGGESTING that Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce isn’t injured, and the reason for her withdrawal was the fact that she was denied to access the warmup track.”  This could be a smell of conspiracy or irregularity from the official side. Still, a lot more is to come on this subject. Let’s wait for Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce to give an exact update on her fitness and for the clarification to clear the air.