Jamaica’s Olympic gold medal winner Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce announced her pregnancy on her Facebook page, saying that she is now “thinking about being the greatest mother I can be” and quoting Psalm 127:3, “Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from Him.” Her sister-Olympian Elaine Thompson commented “Ammo be aunty Elaine and too much God parents. Aunty is good. Congrats boo I can’t wait to see the lil one.” Fraser-Pryce had been focused on starting to train for the 2017 season, working to become as fit as possible to defend her title in London. Thanking her fans for their good wishes, she said that she is now looking forward to seeing them when she returns to competition in 2018. She also thanked her sponsors NIKE, GraceKennedy and Digicel for their support as she moves forward on her new journey.

Known as the “Pocket Rocket” in recognition of her five-foot-tall height and explosive race starts, Fraser-Pryce first came to the attention of track and field fans when, at the age of 21, she became the first Caribbean woman to win the gold medal in the 100 meters at the 2008 Olympics in London. She defended her 100-meter title in 2012, becoming only the third woman to win two consecutive gold medals in the Olympic event. Her long list of achievements includes winning the 100-meter gold at the 2009 IAAF World Championships, being only the second woman sprinter to attain both World and Olympic 100-meter titles at the same time. In 2015, Fraser-Pryce won the 100-meter World title again to become the only woman to be named World Champion in the event three times. She is the only woman athlete to hold both titles in separate occasions, and in 2013, she became the first female sprinter to win gold in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4×100 meters in one World Championship, and she is the first woman to hold world IAAF titles in the 60 meters, 100 meters, 200 meters and 4×100 meter relay and the first woman to hold all those titles at the same time.