Fraser-Pryce says motivation motiv is still there to compete

SportsMax - Normally at 36-years-old, Track & Field athletes are way past theirprimeandgettingready towalkawayfromthesport. Shelly-Ann FraserPryce, however, is not normal.

The three-time Olympic Champion is coming off the bestseasonofhercareerand, quite possibly, the best individual season any sprinter, male or female, has had in the history of the sport.

TheJamaicanwon11out of the 12 100m races she competed in and her times were as follows: 10 67, 10.67, 10.70, 10.87, 10.93, 10.67, 10.66, 10.67, 10.62, 10.74 and 10.65. The third 10.67performancewasdone to win her fifth World Championship title at the E u g e n e W o r l d Championships last July where she also ran 21.81 for 200msilver

For her exploits, the legendary sprinter was named the Laureus Sportswoman of the Year at theprestigious2023Laureus Sports Awards in Paris in

May

With all that in mind, why would someone want to walk away from a sport at theirbestbecauseofage?

Fraser-Pryce has that samequestion.

“Ageism is something that we should talk about because I hate the fact that a basketball player or a footballplayercanplaysport at 40, a Nascar driver or an F1 driver is 42 or 50 and he gets to continue but why can't I continue?” FraserPryce said in an interview withAthleticsWeekly

“It's my job and as long as I'm showing up healthy, I'm going to re-write the books and I'm excited about that,”sheadded.

Fraser-Pryce says she hopes to keep inspiring athletes of all generations by showing them that anyone, no matter your age, can achieve great things if they puttheirmindtoit.

“I'm hoping that I can continue not just to inspire other athletes but myself because my coach tells me every day 'you know you're 36, right?' and I'm like 'yeah

Djokovic returns to world number one, Nadal out of top 100

(Reuters) - Novak Djokovic reclaimed the world number one ranking from Carlos Alcaraz after winning his men's record 23rd Grand Slam title at the French Open, while Rafa Nadal dropped out of the top 100 forthefirsttimein20years.

Djokovic, 36, began his recordextending388thweekatthesummiton Monday, jumping two places in the standings after his victory in Paris at theweekend.

He beat Spaniard Alcaraz in the semi-finalsofthetournament.

Alcaraz dropped to second place while Daniil Medvedev, who crashed out in the first round, also slid one place down to third. Roland Garros runner-up Casper Ruud remained in fourthplace.

Nadal, a 14-times French Open champion, has endured an injuryplagued season and not played since January because of a hip injury sustainedduringtheAustralianOpen.

The 37-year-old has dropped from 15thto136thintherankingsduetohis continued absence from the tour He underwent earlier this month surgery and is expected to be out for five months.

In the women's rankings, Iga Swiatek retained top spot after defending her French Open title. She has held the ranking since April 2022, moving to the summit following Ash that's crazy!' Gone are the days where, at 36, most athletes would have been retired at home doing somethingelseathome,”she said.

Barty'sretirement.

Aryna Sabalenka, who won the Australian Open in January, had the chance to overtake Swiatek but lost to Karolina Muchova in the semi-finals and remained in second place. French Open finalist Muchova climbed from 43rdtoacareer-high16th.

Reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, who withdrew before her third-round match in Paris due to illness,climbeduponeplacetothird.

Jessica Pegula dropped two places to fifth, while Beatriz Haddad Maia became the first Brazilian woman to reach the top 10 following her dream run to the semi-finals of the French Open.

“I still feel good; I still feel hungry and it's just amazing to see what I've beenabletoaccomplishover the years and the body of work. I think, at this stage, it's really about impact and showing female athletes, or athletes overall, what you can do if you really have that conviction, and, the things that we tell ourselves, if we continue to work at that then greatness is possible from that.

For me, it's getting up every morning feeling rejuvenated; still feeling like there is something I'm chasingthatisrightthereand I'm almost touching it, I just need a little more push,” Fraser-Pryceadded.

S h e i s c u r r e n t l y recovering from a knee injury she sustained just a day before she was set to open her season at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi on May13.