Martin Moses

updated at August 21, 2023 at 6:40 PM

• Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will be among crowd-pullers at the 2023 World Athletics Championships
• The celebrated sprinter will be in action in the 100-metre event and possibly the 4x100m relay race
• Fraser-Pryce has previously explained why the colourful wigs she uses mean so much to her

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will be among the legion of top athletes who will headline the World Athletics Championships, with the event kicking off on August 19 in Budapest, Hungary.

The Jamaican national, who is arguably the best-ever sprinter - male or female - will be going for a historic sixth 100-metre world title.

She has had limited involvement this year due to fitness concerns. The 36-year-old was supposed to open her season on May 13 at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi, Kenya but withdrew due to a knee injury, as Sports Brief reported.

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Fraser-Pryce's season opener was therefore postponed to July, where she dropped 10.82 seconds and 10.83 seconds during meets in Switzerland and Spain, respectively. She set a new meet record in the latter, Sports Brief also reported.

Apart from her frightening pace whenever she takes off on the tracks, the mother of one is always unmistakable when picking her out of the starting line-ups due to her colourful wigs.

Last year during the World Championships in Oregon, she had a different wig for every day she stepped out on the track, from the heats to the semi-finals to the finals.

She was racing in three events, mark you.

Why Fraser-Pryce wears colourful wigs

Why the pomp and colour? In a past interview with the Mirror, the five-time World 100m Champion insisted she had to dress the part. The track was her office and she was always going to show up smartly dressed for the occasion.

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"It’s about expressing yourself and being comfortable with who you are - showing up for work in your best outfit and giving yourself the advantage to perform at your best."

The 2023 Laureus Award winner recalled picking the habit from her mother, who used to rock similar wigs during parent-teacher school days while she was young.

To date, she believes some of her 'superpowers' come from those wigs.

"It’s like my wigs are a superpower and I’m able to go into character and it’s almost like you feel invincible. It makes me feel good to be able to express myself in that way because as athletes, we are all unique and there are different ways we want to celebrate who we are."

At 36, athletics fans will always be counting the days and months to when Fraser-Pryce will pop up with the retirement news that no one wants to hear. But she has vowed to keep stretching her body to the maximum until at least the Paris 2024 Olympics, as reported by the official website.

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As she continues doing so, she will grace the track with her colourful wigs in tow.

Fraser-Pryce on Richardson's wig incident

Sports Brief had earlier reported on Fraser-Pryce's hilarious response about her wig when asked if she would ever remove it before a race.

The question came about after newly-minted American champion, Sha'Carri Richardson, removed hers during the national trials recently.

Richardson disposed of the wig on the track just before she ran and went on to confirm her new status as a national champion in the sport.