Quote · The Mel Robbins Podcast
If You Only Listen to One Podcast This Week, Make It This One
Where this was said
Motherhood Elevated Her — The 2019 Doha World Championship
At 58:50 · chapter starts 55:20
When Mel surfaces the 2019 Doha medal, Shelly-Ann's voice shifts to something more personal and charged. She was scared when she got pregnant — not for herself, but because of the critics who arrived immediately: having a baby will ruin your career, you're approaching 30, pack it up [1] — Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce "My son didn't need me to sacrifice my career. He didn't need me to do that. Instead, he needs to see me chasing my dreams so he knows he ha…" 58:50 . Her response was to reframe the stakes entirely. Her son didn't need her to sacrifice her career; he needed to see her chasing her dreams so that he would know he had permission to chase his. She arrived at Doha as a mother of a two-year-old, one of fewer than three women in history to win a global sprint title after giving birth. She ran approximately 10.07 seconds, screamed, pumped her fist, went to the stands and brought her son onto the track. The celebration was deliberate: she wanted him to look back at that footage and understand that in that moment, she chose both him and herself. It is, she says, the proof that women do not have to choose — balance is harmony, and the two things can exist in the same space. The outside world has opinions about when women are relevant, she acknowledges; your conversation is not my reality.
Shelly-Ann won World Championship gold in 2019 and 2022 after giving birth to her son Zyon in 2017 — feats almost no other sprinter in history has achieved.
When Shelly-Ann got pregnant in 2017, the critics said her career was over. She proved them wrong by winning the World Championship in 2019 — as a mom of a two-year-old. She didn't choose between motherhood and greatness. She used one to fuel the other, and brought her son onto the track to celebrate with her.
Shelly-Ann is one of only approximately 2 to 3 women ever to win a global sprinting championship after giving birth, making her 2019 World Championship win historic.
Shelly-Ann won the 2022 World Championship at age 35, becoming the oldest man or woman ever to win the 100-meter world title.
