Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the legendary Jamaican sprinter, has recently entered into a three-year partnership with Richard Mille, the renowned Swiss luxury watchmaker.
The 36-year-old track superstar, who has an impressive track record of five World Championship titles at 100m and two Olympic gold medals in the same event, finalized the deal with Richard Mille on July 1.
This collaboration marks Fraser-Pryce’s first international sponsorship outside of her long-standing shoe sponsor, Nike. Beyond its significance for her personal brand, the partnership also holds great importance for her philanthropic efforts.
A portion of the proceeds from the agreement will be directed towards her Pocket Rocket Foundation, which awards scholarships to talented student-athletes from Jamaican high schools on an annual basis.
The plan is for Fraser-Pryce to showcase Richard Mille’s timepieces when she competes at the upcoming World Athletics Championships in Budapest next month. There, she aims to secure her sixth 100m title, extending her remarkable record in the event.
Fraser-Pryce now joins an esteemed roster of Richard Mille ambassadors that includes notable sports figures such as Yohan Blake, Rafael Nadal, Wayde van Niekerk, Didier Drogba, and Fernando Alonso.
With a career spanning nearly two decades, Fraser-Pryce has solidified her status as arguably the greatest female sprinter of all time. Her historic journey began in 2008 when she became the first Jamaican woman to claim Olympic gold in the 100m event. She continued her dominance by clinching the 100m title at the World Championships in Berlin that same year.
Fraser-Pryce went on to secure her second Olympic gold in the 100m at the 2012 London Games, joining the elite ranks of Wyoma Tyus and Gail Devers as one of the few women to achieve consecutive Olympic victories in the event. Her compatriot, Elaine Thompson-Herah, later joined this exclusive group at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
In 2013, Fraser-Pryce achieved another groundbreaking feat by becoming the first woman to win the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m titles at a single World Championships, held in Moscow. She claimed her fourth 100m gold medal in Helsinki in 2015.
Despite a toe injury leading up to the Rio 2016 Olympics, Fraser-Pryce demonstrated her tenacity by securing a bronze medal in the 100m, becoming the only woman to win medals in the event at three consecutive Olympic Games.
After taking a break to give birth to her son Zyon in 2017, Fraser-Pryce made a remarkable return to the track in 2019, clinching her fourth 100m world title in Doha, Qatar. She followed up with a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, further solidifying her place in history as the only woman to win medals in the 100m at four consecutive Olympic Games.
Fraser-Pryce continued to add to her remarkable legacy at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, where she set a championship record of 10.67 seconds in the 100m and became the first female athlete to win five gold medals in the same event at a World Championships. Additionally, she secured a silver medal in the 200m, finishing behind her compatriot Shericka Jackson, who set a blistering time of 21.45 seconds, the second-fastest ever recorded by a woman over the distance.
The partnership with Richard Mille serves as a testament to Fraser-Pryce’s standing as one of the greatest athletes of all time. It also highlights her ongoing dominance in the world of sprinting. With this new alliance, Fraser-Pryce is poised to continue inspiring and astonishing fans for years to come.
