Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is a hot commodity these days, and who would question that after a stupendous title defence in the women’s 100m final?!

The Jamaican, who ran a blistering 10.67 seconds for a new championship record at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, led a sweep of the medals ahead of compatriots Shericka Jackson and Elaine Thompson-Herah on Sunday, July 17. 

But, if one Barbadian graphic artist had their way, Fraser-Pryce’s allegiances would switch in the blink of an eye. 

The artist, via Twitter page @kaijai_tm, crowned Fraser-Pryce the “Bajan sprint queen”—immaculately photoshopping her jersey and hair to match the national colours of Barbados. 

When confronted by Jamaicans on Twitter, who caught on to the joke, user @kaijai_tm counterargued that he had ‘proof’ the decorated Waterhouse native was from Barbados. 

“I said what I said. If she’s allegedly a Jamaican then what’s this?” the user asked, brandishing a photoshopped version of Fraser-Pryce in possession of a Barbadian passport.

It was also not user @kaijai_tm’s first attempt at ‘stealing’ Fraser-Pryce as the Bajan first tried in 2019 around the time Jamaicans launched one of the most successful internet campaigns to convince the world that Barbadian national heroine Rihanna was a ‘yardie’. 

Fraser-Pryce, tickled by the Bajans’ desire to claim her for themselves, shot down the first attempt by repping the Waterhouse community where she grew up.

For those who missed the glorious #RihannaIsJamaican Twitter campaign—ironically celebrating a three-year anniversary in 2022—Jamaicans were so compelling in their case to claim the Rude Boy songstress that even Apple’s virtual assistant Siri and Wikipedia were initially confused, offering both Barbados and Jamaica to the question, ‘Where is Rihanna born?’. 

The renewed attempt at stealing the spritely and charismatic sprint queen was considered a ‘fair blow’ by the Jamaican Twitterati, many of whom recalled the Rihanna campaign that sparked regional and international headlines.