Sixteen years after Usain Bolt received one of the country’s highest honors, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is set to receive a similar accolade.
Back in 2009, following a record-shattering season that saw him set enduring 100m and 200m world records, Bolt was honored with the Order of Jamaica, full diplomatic privileges, and the renaming of a section of Highway 2000 in his name.
According to a report by the Jamaica Gleaner on May 13, Ashoka Road in Waterhouse, St Andrew, the very street where Fraser-Pryce first honed her sprinting skills, will be renamed Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Drive.
The announcement was made by Mayor Andrew Swaby during a KSAMC meeting, with the official renaming ceremony set for May 25 at 2 p.m.
The decision to rename the street was initially moved months earlier, either on September 10, 2024, or October 8, according to varying records, by Councillor Byron Clarke in the Marcus Garvey Council Chamber. Regardless of the date, the gesture carries significant meaning. It’s more than a street sign; it’s a tribute to a hometown girl who carried the hopes of a nation on her shoulders and sprinted into global stardom.
This isn’t Fraser-Pryce’s first national honor. In 2022, her Order of Distinction was elevated to the Order of Jamaica, recognizing her unwavering excellence on and off the track. Now, this street renaming brings the honor even closer to her roots.
Jamaica will now proudly have two streets bearing the names of its most celebrated sprinters, Usain Bolt Highway and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce Drive.
A Shared Stage and a Shared Legacy
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Usain Bolt have long shared the world stage. In 2013, both were crowned IAAF World Athletes of the Year, marking the first time in 20 years that two athletes from the same country claimed the titles in the same year. At the World Championships in Moscow that year, Bolt won gold in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay, while Fraser-Pryce matched his dominance with victories in the same three events.
That moment was a proud chapter for Jamaica, proving that the small Caribbean island with a population of under three million could command the world’s attention in track and field.
