Pan Am Games: Jamaica Breaks 40 Year-Old Record

A 40-year-old Pan American record for the 200-meter run was broke Friday when Jamaican native Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, 32, ripped past the finish line in 22.43 seconds.

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The two-time Olympic gold medallist clipped two-hundredths of a second off U.S. runner Evelyn Ashford’s Pan Am Games record of 22.45 set in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1979. 

Holding her nation’s flag high and her bright green hair waving behind, Fraser-Pryce celebrated another triumph at this year’s Pan-Am competition in Lima, Peru.

"It's a long time since I've broken a record, so I feel great about that,'' Fraser-Pryce told ESPN.

Fraser-Pryce, who won Olympic titles in 2008 and 2012, beat Brazil’s Vitoria Cristina Rose by almost two-tenths of a second with Bahamian Tynia Gaither third in 22.76.

The Jamaican native said Lima’s cold and damp climate created some difficulties for her normal warm up, so instead she focused on her strategy.

"My coach told me to run the first half very hard and I decided to go for it from the gun,'' she said. "We were all cold out there, but I wasn't too worried about the cold, I was just worried about everyone behind me.''

She hopes to take on Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson’s record and take gold at the next Olympics set to take place in Tokyo in 2020.

Her Jamaican compatriot Danniel Thomas-Dodd smashed another Games record in the women’s shot put, throwing a national record 19.55 metres, which erased Cuban Maria Elena Sarria’s 1983 record of 19.34 metres.

South American record holder Alex Quinonez of Ecuador won the men’s 200 in 20.27 for a victory over Jereem Richards of Trinidad & Tobago (20.38) and Yancarlos Martinez of the Dominican Republic (20.44).

Brazil proved to be the fastest in the 4x100 metres relays, winning the women’s race 43.04 seconds and the men’s in 38.27. Brazil currently holds the third highest number of medals for the games, with 156 and Cuba holds firth place with 95.

The Brazilians also claimed the men’s 10,000 metres with Ederson Vilela running 28 minutes, 27.47 seconds.