RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — RIO Stephen Francis has confirmed reports that his star sprinter, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, will be leaving his MVP Track Club.
The news that the woman, who is the winner of 15 global medals for Jamaica, will depart the UTech-based group, came on Thursday.
However, when the sprinter was asked shortly after anchoring Jamaica to silver in the 4×1, she told journalists that Francis was the best to speak on the issue.
“I think that’s a question you need to ask Stephen Francis,” was how the two-time (2008 and 2012) Olympic Games 100m champion replied.
Late Friday night, the Jamaica Gleaner reported Francis as saying that Fraser-Pryce is leaving because she “lost confidence in the programme.”
“What I can say is that after the Olympic Games there is often disappointment and disappointed people have to make an assessment as to why they performed below their expectations,” Francis said.
“Coaches of the disappointed people, like myself, have to take the blame and I accept full blame for Shelly-Ann not performing the way she expected to,” Francis was quoted as saying.
“So I think its only natural for somebody, for anybody to decide that the programme they were under is not working out,” added Francis while saying athletes changing coaches, is part of the game.
“I think too big a deal is being made of the possibility of her changing coaches,” continued Francis, who coached Fraser-Pryce to all her international success.
“She hasn’t run a PB (personal best) in four year and I think that is a contributing factor,” added Francis, who is also the coach of the new Olympic Games sprint double champion, Elaine Thompson.
