From one GOAT to another, Serena Williams crowns Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce as queen of athletics

From one legend to another, Serena Williams honoured Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce's impact in track and field by crowning her as the queen of women's sprinting at ATHLOS NYC 2025.

The honorary moment took place during the ATHLOS meet at Icahn Stadium on Friday, October 10, celebrating the Jamaican sprint legend for her impact in athletics through the years and inspiring generations to come as she retires from the sport.

Fraser-Pryce officially announced her retirement from athletics on October 7, 2025, penning a message of gratitude to her family, country, and fans globally.

"This sport has given me joy beyond measure. It has shaped me, disciplined me, and carried me to heights I could only dream of as a young girl in Waterhouse. Yet as I reflect, I no longer see time only in seconds; I see it in years. The years I gave to sprinting will forever remain among the greatest of my life,” she wrote.

ATHLOS boss Alexis Ohanian, who is Serena Williams' husband, said on the @CBSMornings show that honouring Fraser-Pryce felt very right, and his wife was the best model for the crowning moment.

The ATHLOS meet in New York was a huge success with several athletes putting up top performances on the night, highlighted by Brittany Brown sweeping the sprint double and earning $120,000, Tara Davis-Woodhall soaring to an equal world-leading time of 7.13m to win the long jump event, and Faith Kipyegon clocking the fastest mile time on US soil.

The legendary Jamaican sprint queen first won the hearts of track and field enthusiasts globally when, as a very much unknown sprinter at age 21, blazed to the women's 100m gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, thus becoming the first Jamaican and Caribbean woman to become an Olympic champion in the event.

Since then, she has gone on to become a trailblazer, scooping five world titles (one of which was in 2022, just over a year after giving birth to her son Zyon, thus making her the first mother to become a world champion), and adding several other medals and accolades that cemented her as a legend in the sport.

Having had an illustrious career that spanned eighteen years, the 38-year-old track icon finally made her last career appearance at the end of the Tokyo 2025 World Championships.

In her last dance on the track in Tokyo, Fraser-Pryce still showed her resilience and greatness again by getting to the women's 100m final, as she settled for a respectable sixth-place finish, before running a vital first leg for the young Jamaican 4x100m relay squad as they blazed to the silver medal.

Fraser-Pryce will forever remain in the annals of history as a role model to several athletes globally and arguably the greatest female sprinter to ever grace the sport.