Paris Olympics: Hamstring injury during warm-up stopped Fraser-Pryce from 100m semi-final

Athletics legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the Jamaican former Olympic champion, pulled out of the women’s Olympic 100 metres with injury shortly before her semi-final on Saturday night following footage of an apparent argument over access to the warm-up track.

The 37-year-old, who won the Olympic 100m title in 2008 and 2012, had earlier been filmed on social media in a heated discussion with stewards but was then later seen warming up in the usual area well before the scheduled semi-final time.

It is understood that both Fraser-Pryce and world champion Sha’Carri Richardson had initially been denied access to the separate warm-up area adjacent to the Stade de France but Richardson did safely negotiate her semi-final, finishing behind Julien Alfred in 10.89sec. Alfred went on to win gold in the final ahead of second-placed Richardson.

World Athletics said that Fraser-Pryce’s withdrawal was purely injury-related.

Footage on social media showed Fraser-Pryce talking to a bus driver at an entrance gate about struggling to gain access to the stadium, saying: “She’s [security] said they changed the rule yesterday. How can they change the rule and then not say? So you’re asking all the athletes who for whatever reason don’t stay in the village, they can’t come through the gate. That’s crazy.”

Fraser-Pryce is competing at her final Olympic Games before retirement and had qualified impressively through her first round heat on Saturday and was widely thought to be in contention for an unprecedented fifth straight 100m medal.

She has won 24 Olympic and World Championship medals and, depending on the severity of her injury, could still join Jamaica’s 4x100m relay team later this week, with whom she won a gold medal at the Tokyo Games in 2021. Fraser-Pryce had appeared in her first major championships some 17 years ago when she was part of Jamaica’s 4x100m relay team at the 2007 World Championships.

However, reports were emerging that Fraser-Pryce had tweaked a hamstring in the warm-up, putting in doubt her appearance in the relay.

Jamaica’s team manager, Ludlow Watts, later said: “We only got the information that she is injured, but doctor Warren Blake is addressing the matter and we will speak further on the matter. This was a surprise and disappointment because the whole world would love to see Shelly in the Olympics. Apart from being a Jamaican, I am sure that people who love track and field would be very disappointed globally.”