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Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce becomes fastest female sprinter alive, runs best 100m since Florence Griffith Joyner

Only one woman in history has run a faster women's 100-meter than Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce did on Saturday: Florence Griffith Joyner.

Jamaica's Fraser-Pryce became the second-fastest woman ever with a magnificent 10.63 at a meet in Kingston on Saturday, blowing away her competition and obliterating the national record of 10.70 she shared with Elaine Thompson-Herah, who won the 100 gold at the 2016 Olympics.

Fraser-Pryce's 10.63 is the fourth-fastest time ever recorded, and the fastest any woman has run the 100 since Flo-Jo ran the three fastest times ever in 1988 (10.49, 10.61 and 10.62).

Fraser-Pryce's eye-popping result on Saturday upends expectations heading into the Tokyo Olympics next month. According to NBC Sports, the 100 favorite had been 21-year-old American Sha’Carri Richardson. This spring she's had times of 10.72, 10.74, and 10.77, none of which come close to Fraser-Pryce's time on Saturday. Thompson-Herah had been just behind Richardson with a 10.78, and Fraser-Pryce had been behind both of them with a 10.84 — until now.

Now Fraser-Pryce, who already has two Olympic gold medals in the 100 from 2008 and 2012, appears the be the favorite. The 34-year-old, who came back from having a baby to win the 2019 World Championships, would be the oldest woman to win an individual Olympic sprint title, and the first woman ever to win three Olympic golds in a single track and field discipline.

Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce celebrates after winning the Women's 100M final during the Diamond League athletics meeting at the Qatar Sports Club stadium in the capital Doha on May 28, 2021. (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR / AFP) (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images)
Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce became the second-fastest woman ever when she ran a 10.63 in the 100m at a meet in Kingston. (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images)

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