Ageless Fraser-Pryce ready to contend in stacked 100m at worlds despite long layoff

This is a column by Morgan Campbell, who writes opinion for CBC Sports.  For more information about  CBC's Opinion section , please see the  FAQ .

I can't lie: watching Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce end a long layoff last month by running back-to-back 100-metre races in the low 10.80s hurt my ego.

For me, predicting the medal winners and finishing times in sprint finals at global championships is a point of pride. Sometimes, I'm accurate to within a hundredth of a second. Having Fraser-Pryce back on the track, and back in phenomenal shape, complicates the process of forecasting a preposterously deep women's 100-metre final, set for Sunday at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

But it's not about my pride, or my prognostications. I'm not here to help you bet on this race. I'm here to help you understand it.

First thing to know is that the field is beyond stacked. Favourites include Shericka Jackson, whose 10.65-second clocking at Jamaican national championships leads the world this season, and Sha'Carri Richardson of the U.S., who has defeated Jackson twice in 2023. Marie Josée Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast has run 10.75, and now here comes Fraser-Pryce, the 22-time world and Olympic medallist, who delayed her season debut until July because of a reported knee injury.

She opened with 10.82 in Switzerland on July 20, then followed up that result by running 10.83 in Spain two days later. When assessing Sunday's race, those times carry more weight than what many analysts would call Fraser-Pryce's "championship pedigree" does. The medals tell you what she did in the past, but current results say she's capable of breaking 10.80 right now, which signals that she's ready to win yet another medal.

WA