MVP forever ... there is nowhere else for me

"I am blessed, I know that I am a blessed person and I'll definitely
overcome." Those are the words of a young lady that has been bruised but
is clearly not broken.

With the brightest of smiles stapled across her face and a girlish charm that belies the turbulence that she has had to endure these days, Jamaica's sprinting darling Shelly-Ann Fraser is a picture of resolve as she bares all, speaking openly about her trials and triumphs.

Fraser, who has won 100 metres gold medals at the Olympic Games and World Championships over the past two years, has been grabbing the headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent times after she was embroiled in a doping scandal that involved the non-performance enhancement substance, Oxycodone.

The 23-year-old was eventually banned from competition for a period of six months (ending in January 2011) and despite being covered with a blanket of doubt and controversy which threatened to erode the credibility of her years of hard work, Fraser is looking to once again prove the doubters wrong.

And that is really not a problem for the diminutive speedster who is quite used to punching above her weight and rising in the face of challenges.

surprised many

In 2008, Fraser, an unknown at that point, surprised many by finishing second at the National Senior Championships, in the process securing an automatic spot in the 100m at the Beijing Olympic Games. With the much-fancied Veronica Campbell-Brown finishing down the track in fourth place, only good enough for a relay slot, there was even a debate at one point about giving Fraser's spot to the more experienced Campbell-Brown.

Fraser, of course, went on to mine gold in Beijing - the first Jamaican woman to do so, and followed that up a year later with the same result at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Berlin, Germany.

"I have proven everything already, I have nothing to prove to anyone really, the only person I might have to prove anything to is to myself," Fraser asserted. "Everything that I have earned or achieved is through hard work and determination and that cannot be taken away from me."

"I guess I have to do that over again to show everybody that I am who I am and that I achieved all that I did because I worked hard for it," Fraser added.

praiseworthy supporters

The Wolmerian was full of praise for her support cast, and shared that without their backing, getting through this spell would have been far more difficult than it already is.

"I have a great coach and a great management team, great family, great friends, just some great people around me. I'm just happy that it's over, I'm ready to put this behind me and move one," she smiled. "I'm coping well because of their support.

"From everything you learn something and it has been a learning experience for me and I will use it as a stepping stone for the future. It's behind me now and

I'm just focusing on the future, trust me, it's something that I have learnt so much from and it is something that will help me to become a stronger person," said Fraser, her determination becoming more evident with each passing syllable. "Honestly, it has been a real challenge but I'm grateful, because I have learnt so much from this experience."

Fraser, the fastest Jamaican woman in history with a personal best of 10.73 seconds and only the second female sprinter to hold Olympic and World 100m titles simultaneously, also underlined her commitment to her coach Stephen Francis, who was also implicated for his role in the doping matter and was publicly reprimanded by the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association as a result.

"I am with Stephen Francis and MVP Track Club 100 per cent. They are the reasons why I have been able to achieve all I have at this point, they are the force behind me in everything and I have no intention to change camp," Fraser noted.

"There are always going to be times when there are ups and downs and I admit that at times you want to just pack it up and move away from it all, but I've been with Stephen for four years now and he has never done anything that would even cause me to consider, even for a second to leave," she reiterated. "I won two gold medals under Stephen Francis and with MVP so trust me, MVP is home, there is nowhere else for me."

"I'm back in training now and, as usual, it's going wonderfully, I'm ready to win again, ready to get back on the track and I'm very excited about the upcoming season," she beamed. "As usual, coach Francis and the rest of the coaching staff at MVP are just killing me with hard work."