Jamaica’s multiple World and Olympic Champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is the winner of the prestigious Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year award.
The Jamaican sprint queen topped five other nominees shortlisted for the award – the others being US 400 meters Hurdles star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone; Polish Tennis star Iga Swiatek; Spanish footballer Alexia Putellas; US Alpine Skier Mikaela Shiffrin and US swimmer Katie Ledecky.
It’s Fraser-Pryce’s first time winning the award in her sixth nomination, which comes on the heels of her record-breaking season in which she claimed her fifth world 100m title and her fifth Diamond League trophy.
The 10-time world champion ran a world-leading 10.62 seconds and a historic seven sub-10.70 races in the event this season, the most by any woman in the history of athletics.
In the meantime, Argentine Football legend Lionel Messi was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, the maestro having led his country to a third World Cup last December.
Messi beat out the likes of Dutch driver Max Verstappen, PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe; NBA star Steph Curry; Tennis star Rafael Nadal and Pole Vault maestro Armand Mondo Duplantis to win the award.