World champions Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson are beginning to reap the rewards for their brilliance on the track in 2022. On October 12, they were both included in the World Athletics list of the ten best female athletes of the year, and on National Heroes Day, in Jamaica, they both received high honours from a grateful nation.

Fraser-Pryce was awarded the Order of Jamaica, the nation’s fifth highest honour, for her continued high performance in athletics, culminating this year with her 5th World Championships gold medal in the 100m. At the same Kings House ceremony on October 17, Jackson was conferred with the Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander.

Jackson has blossomed into a tremendous sprinter in the last two years, after winning bronze medals in the 400m at the Olympics and the World Championships. In 2021, she won the bronze in a Jamaican sweep in the 100m at the Olympics, and this year, she has dominated the 200m, winning the World Championships with the second fastest clocking of all-time, 21.45 seconds.

Official titles for Fraser-Pryce and Jackson are as follows

  • The Honorable Dr Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce OJ, CD
  • Shericka Jackson, OD

In addition, she was second to Fraser Pryce in the 100m.

During the previous week, the two Jamaicans were named among 10 nominees for the World Athletics Women’s Athlete of the Year Award. Fraser lost just once in the 100m, to Jackson, in a season where she set new standards for consistency by racking up 7 clockings under 10.7 seconds.

In the 200m, she was second to her compatriot at the World Championships.

Jackson lost her only 200m race of the season to Olympic bronze medallist Gabrielle Thomas at the Doha Diamond League but then she accelerated through a peerless season punctuated by her breakthrough at the Jamaican Championships in 21.55, then the third fastest 200m of all time.

In all, she broke 22 seconds in six different races, and in the shorter event, she managed to lower her lifetime mark to 10.71, which places her as the sixth fastest ever.

The other nominees are led by three women who broke world records in 2022, 400m hurdler Sydney McLaughlin USA, 100m hurdler Tobi Amusan of Nigeria, and Yulimar Rojas, the Venezuelan triple jumper.

Bahamian 400m star Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Kenya’s 1500m ace Faith Kipyegon, American shot putter Chase Ealey, Peruvian walker Kimberly Garcia and Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh are also on the list.

A release from World Athletes said that an international panel of experts compiled the list. Votes from the World Athletics Council, the World Athletics Family, and fans will be used to make final selections. The top five will be announced once voting closes on October 31 at midnight with an Athlete of the Year presentation to be made early in December.