Leighton Levy, Gleaner Writer

Veronica Campbell of Jamaica (right), Shelly-Ann Fraser of Jamaica (centre) and Marshevet Hooker of the United States compete in the women's 100m final during the London Athletics Grand Prix at Crystal Palace, London, on July 26. Campbell-Brown won in 10.97 seconds ahead of Fraser, 10.95, while Hooker placed third in 11.07. - AP

"Don't be afraid to succeed." Jeffrey Gordon drilled those words into Shelly-Ann Fraser's head for three years, while she was a student at Wolmer's High School for Girls, and still does so today.

Back when the drilling began, Fraser was a talented but unfocused high school sprinter, and Gordon, the manager of the high school track team and Fraser's mentor. The latter had taken the talented teen under his wing after he saw in her "potential as an exceptional athlete."

"Whenever she trained hard, you saw the results," he said.

Support from coach, teachers

With seven passes at the Caribbean Examination Council Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate level, her athletic and academic success would not have been possible without the combined efforts of her coach and teachers.

Together, they designed special programmes for her and the Wolmer's Alumni Association's New York Chapter that provided funding. Together, they ensured that Fraser found a home - with her mother's consent - with the parent of one of her fellow athletes; had proper nutritional support; was provided with more than enough father figures and money to pay her school fees.

Personal development

Gordon

In the meantime, Gordon worked on helping her develop as a person.

"I went beyond the athlete and tried to understand why she was the way she was," he said, explaining that her thought processes had developed based on her experiences.

It was then that he planted the words in her mind and helped her try to make them into reality.

He also helped her develop other skills, like her speech. Knowing that when she achieved success at the international level, she would be conducting interviews, Gordon staged mock interview sessions with her, sometimes in his car while on their way somewhere.

"I would hold my hand like a microphone and ask her questions and she would fit right into the role," he said.

Wolmer's Girls track coach Michael Carr said her progress as an athlete was steady and peaked with her winning the Girls Class Two 100 metres titles at the Boys' and Girls' National Championships in 2003. Her winning time was 11.73 seconds and everything looked good for the future. But Fraser admits she coasted through the next two years which cost her a Class One title to Holmwood Technical's Aneisha McLaughlin.

"I wanted to enjoy myhigh school days," she said. "Honestly, I was lazy. Coach Carr was always calling me to come to training. I got comfortable after the Class Two win and was not putting in the extra work. I wasn't the same Shelly-Ann."

After graduating from Wolmer's but for Gordon's intervention, Fraser would have followed her mother's wishes and accepted a scholarship to attend university overseas.

"But University of Technology wanted her and with her mother's permission, decided not to go abroad," Gordon says.

Running with champions

At the MVP track club, a more mature Fraser now rubs shoulders with former world record holder Asafa Powell; Sherone Simpson, Michael Frater and Nesta Carter. There she is coached by Wolmer's past student and former Wolmer's coach Stephen Francis and is administered to by club president, Bruce James, also a Wolmer's past student.

After two years under Francis' tutelage, Fraser is on her way to becoming a world beater. She was a member of the women's 4x100 metre relay squad that won silver at the World Championships in Osaka, Japan, last year. It was there that she decided she really wanted an individual medal. The 10.85 seconds she ran at this year's National Championships in June, a personal best, is among the fastest times ever run legally by any female athlete.

Shelly-Ann Fraser and her high school coach, Michael Carr.