Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce shares lockdown experience
Jamaican sprint legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has said she is desperate to get back into competition mode, admitting that the mental and physical strain of lockdown has been “demotivating”.
“Lockdown was pretty bad for the first two months,” Fraser-Pryce told the London edition of the Wanda Diamond League Call Room, which is due to air at 19:00 BST this Saturday (July 4).
With the athletics calendar put on hold in the spring due to the global coronavirus pandemic, Fraser-Pryce and other athletics stars were not only denied high-level competition, but also had to adapt their training programmes.
And the Jamaican claims that being forced to return to dirt track training has taken a mental as well as a physical toll.
“They shut down the national stadium, which is where we train. It started to give me a lot of problems with my knees and my toes because you can't sprint at the level you want to on a dirt track,” she said.
“It was really hard and sometimes it was demotivating. We had to split into groups because no more than 10 people could be at the track and we had to be doing track and gym work back to back.”
Now, things have settled down and the multiple Olympic champion is able to train at the national stadium once again.
And Fraser-Pryce admits that there was also a positive side to lockdown.
“I have never had this amount of time with my family and friends, and it has definitely been welcome," she said. "It’s been awesome to put things in perspective, to have time with my family and to relax.”
Fraser-Pryce also discussed competing in front of Jamaican fans in London and balancing her track career with motherhood.
Tune in to the Wanda Diamond League Call Room at 19:00 BST this Saturday for the full interview.
Click here to watch the show via our website.
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