Michael Frater O.D (born 6 October 1982) is a Jamaican retired sprinter who specialised in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

event. He won a silver medal at the 2005 World Championships and a gold medal at the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games, officially the XIV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Santo Domingo 2003, were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the Games was made in the mid-1990 ...

for the event. He has also been successful as part of the Jamaican

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the indiv ...

team, setting the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

and

Olympic record Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games. Summer Olympics * Archery at the Summer Olympics, Archery (List of Olympic records in archery, li ...

at the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. He also won gold in the relay at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

and took silver in the 2002 edition.

Career

Born on 6 October 1982, in Manchester,

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

, Michael Frater is the second of three sons of Lyndell Frater, member of Jamaican Parliament, and Monica Frater. He attended the Ulster Spring primary school with brothers Lindel and Ricardo. His elder brother Lindel, was a sprinter who represented

at the

2000 Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. Frater stated that his brother was a major influence on his decision to become a track athlete. Frater attended

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. He is a member of the MVP (Maximising Velocity and Power) Track & Field Club based at the University of Technology, Jamaica (U-Tech),

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

, and is coached by Stephen Francis.

1997

Representing Wolmer's Boys School, Frater set two records at the Inter-Secondary School Sports Association National Boys & Girls Athletic Championship held at the

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football ...

, Kingston. On 22 March, he won the Class 3

in 11.10 and the Class 3

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

in 22.73. Frater won gold at the

CARIFTA Games The CARIFTA Games is an annual athletics competition founded by the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA). The games were first held in 1972 and consist of track and field events including sprint races, hurdles, middle distance track ev ...

, winning the Under-17 100 m in 11.07.CARIFTA Games Under 17 list
Gbrathletics.com. Retrieved on 2016-09-01.

1998

Frater won a bronze medal at the CARIFTA Games. Competing in the Under-17 100 m he recorded 10.85 into a −0.7 m/s

headwind A tailwind is a wind that blows in the direction of travel of an object, while a headwind blows against the direction of travel. A tailwind increases the object's speed and reduces the time required to reach its destination, while a headwind has ...

. He also won a silver medal in the 4 × 100 m relay event.

1999

On 9 July Frater won a silver medal in the

at the Pan American Junior Championships. He ran the second leg for Jamaica, who finished in 40.27 behind the United States team. Eight days later Frater won a gold medal at the World Youth Championships. He ran the second leg on the 4 × 100 m relay, the team's winning time 40.03 setting a new World Youth (under 18) record.

2000

Frater finished second in the 100 m with 10.50 at the Jamaica National Junior Championships on 30 June. Running for Boyd Anderson High School in Lauderdale Lakes,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, he won the Florida state championship in the 100 m, and was selected as the Gatorade Outstanding High School Track Athlete for the state. In October, Frater finished fifth in the 100 m at the IAAF World Junior Championships in a personal best 10.46 and again fifth when running the first leg of the 4 × 100 m relay in 40.07.

2002

Frater won the 100 m at the Conference USA Outdoor Championships in 10.07. Although wind aided +2.1 m/s the time is credited as a meet record, with the "(w-a)" notation for wind assistance.2003 Conference USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships start list
Flashresults.com. Retrieved on 2016-09-01. In the preliminaries of the 200 m Frater ran a personal best 20.63 (wind +0.6 m/s). He won the 200 m at the same event, in 20.45 Again wind assisted (+3.0 m/s), the time is credited as a meet record, with the "(w-a)" notation for wind assistance. Frater collected his third win of the meet when TCU won the 4 × 100 m relay in 39.17, setting another meet record. On 1 June Frater finished fourth in the 100 m at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships, running 10.40 in a −2.7 headwind. In July at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Frater finished seventh in semi-final 1 of the 100 m event. He then ran the first leg of the Jamaican 4 × 100 m relay team that won a silver medal, the Jamaican team finishing with the same time as

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, in 38.62 s.

2003

In February Frater ran 6.66 at the Conference USA Indoor Championships, bettering the previous meet record while finishing second in the 60 m. He also finished second in the 200 m. Frater finished third in the 100 m at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, earning all-American honors. In early August at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

, Frater finished second in the 100 m in 10.21 He ran the first leg of the 4 × 100 m relay; the Jamaican team finished fourth recording 39.08. Frater was awarded the gold medal for the 100 m and the bronze for the 4 × 100 m relay a week later when American Mickey Grimes tested positive for the stimulant

ephedrine Ephedrine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant and sympathomimetic agent that is often used to prevent hypotension, low blood pressure during anesthesia. It has also been used for asthma, narcolepsy, and obesity but is not the preferred ...

, resulting in the disqualification of Grimes and the US relay team. Three weeks later at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, Frater was eliminated, running in the quarter finals of the 100 m heat immediately following Jon Drummond's on-track protest for disqualification, finishing sixth posting 10.25. He helped the 4 × 100 m relay team qualify second quickest for the final, running the third leg in the semi-final. In the final the baton exchange was not executed cleanly between

Dwight Thomas Dwight Thomas O.D (born 23 September 1980) is a Jamaican sprinter, mainly competing in the 100 metres event and more recently the 110 m hurdles. Career He won the bronze medal at the IAAF World Junior Championships in 1998 at the 100 m and ...

and Frater, resulting in a DNF for the team.

2004

In May Frater won the 100 m at the Conference USA Outdoor Championships in 10.20. TCU won the 4 × 100 m relay, giving Frater his second win of the meet. On 12 June Frater finished second in 10.059 to

Tyson Gay Tyson Gay (born August 9, 1982) is a retired American track and field sprint (running), sprinter who competed in the 100 metres, 100 and 200 metres, 200 meters. His 100 m personal best of 9.69 seconds is the United States records in track ...

10.051 at the NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

. As a member of the TCU relay team he finished fourth in the 4 × 100 m event. Frater was knocked out in the first semi-final of the 100 m sprint at the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, finishing sixth in 10.29 into a −1.6 m/s headwind. He ran the anchor leg on the 4 × 100 m relay in the heats, but did not get the chance to run for a medal as the Jamaican team failed to qualify for the final, with a season best 38.71 fourth-place finish in their heat.

2005

On 16 July Frater won the Meeting de Madrid

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

Grand Prix event, recording 10.22 into a −0.7 m/s headwind. In the 2005 World Championships, he won the silver medal in the 100 m with 10.05, finishing second to American Justin Gatlin, who was subsequently banned from competition in 2006 for four years after testing positive for

testosterone Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone and androgen in Male, males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of Male reproductive system, male reproductive tissues such as testicles and prostate, as well as promoting se ...

or its precursor. The Jamaican 4 × 100 m relay team, anchored by Frater, failed to gain a medal in the final, finishing fourth by .001 to the

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

team. Although he qualified for the 100 m at the 2005 World Athletics Final in Monaco, Frater did not start the race.

2006

Frater was disqualified in the semi-finals of the 100 m sprint because of a false start at the

in March.100 m semifinal 2 2000 Commonwealth Games
Melbourne2006.com.au. Retrieved on 2016-09-01. Patrick Johnson was charged with the first false start, which put the entire field under caution. Frater was removed from the field after the second false start, although he had a slower reaction, officially 0.146, to the gun than Jacey Harper in Lane 7. After a third false start

Mark Lewis-Francis Mark Anthony Lewis-Francis, MBE (born 4 September 1982) is a retired British track and field athlete, specifically a sprinter, who specialised in the 100 metres and was an accomplished regular of GB 4 × 100 m relay. A renowned junior, his gr ...

was also disqualified from the semi-final. Frater ran the first leg of the 4 × 100 m relay, earning a gold medal with Jamaica's winning time of 38.36. Frater withdrew from competing in the Jamaica International Invitational on 6 May, his coach citing financial issues and "disrespect" In June, Frater won the 100 m in 10.18 at the JAAA National Championships, succeeding

Asafa Powell Asafa Powell (born 23 November 1982) is a retired Jamaican sprinter who specialised in the 100 metres. He set the 100 metres world record twice, between June 2005 and May 2008 with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds. Powell has consistently ...

as Jamaica National Champion. He and his brother Lindel are the only brothers to win the 100 m event at the national championships.

2007

Frater, 10.13, finished second to Darrel Brown, 10.02, of

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

at the Jamaica International Invitational on 5 May. In June at the National Championships on a day highlighted by Veronica Campbell-Brown's emphatic victory in the female 100 m in a world-leading time of 10.89, Frater failed to qualify for the Osaka World Championships when he clocked a less than impressive 10.46. His only chance was left up to the final semi-final of the day but the exploits of talented schoolboy

Yohan Blake Yohan Blake (born 26 December 1989) is a Jamaican sprinter specialising in the 100 metres, 100-metre and 200 metres, 200-metre sprint races. He won gold at the 100 m at the 2011 World Athletics Championships as the youngest 100 m world champion ...

(10.19) pushed Nesta Carter to run a blistering 10.17 thus making the third heat the fastest heat of the day. This meant that the

silver medalist was out of the finals and as a result did not make the Jamaican team to Osaka. On 28 July Frater clocked 9.95 at the 4th Gran Premio Internacional de Atletismo Gobierno de Aragon held in Zaragoza, Spain. The wind for the race was an illegal 3.7 m/s. Frater finished third in the 100 m at the 2007 World Athletics Final,

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, in 10.11

2008

On 28 June 2008, Frater finished third in the Jamaica National Championships (behind

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt (; born 21 August 1986) is a Jamaican retired sprinter who is widely regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time. He is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, ...

9.85, Asafa Powell 9.97) in 10.04, and qualified for the

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. He finished sixth in the Olympic 100 m final setting a personal best of 9.97 seconds. Frater won a gold medal in Beijing, running the second leg of the 4 × 100 m relay. The relay team of Carter, Frater, Bolt and Powell set a new

of 37.10, with Frater recording a split time of 9.01 seconds for his leg. (USATF High Performance Registered Split Analysis). The gold medal was later rescinded by the IOC on 25 January 2017, after a retest of Frater's teammate Nesta Carter found the presence of the prohibited substance methylhexaneamine. In a Jamaican sweep of the medal positions led by Asafa Powell and Nesta Carter, Frater again finished third in the 100 m at the World Athletics Final, Stuttgart, in 10.10 One week later Frater won the 100 m at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix on 20 September, the first official event of the IAAF 2009 Grand Prix series. Frater was honoured in a homecoming celebration in Jamaica and received an

Order of Distinction The Order of Distinction (OD) is a national order in the Jamaican honours system. It is the sixth in order of precedence of the Orders of Societies of Honour, which were instituted by an Act of Parliament (''The National Honours and Awards Ac ...

(Officer Rank) in recognition of his achievements at the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

2009

Frater ran the second leg for his MVP 4 × 100 m relay team at the Milo Western Relays held at the GC Foster College on 14 February. The team recorded a new meet record and world leading time of 38.72 s for the relay event. On 7 March, Frater was inducted into the Boyd Anderson Ring of Honor. On 16 April Frater was nominated for the Laureus World Team of the Year award, as a member of the 2008 Jamaica Olympic Sprint Team. Two days later Frater ran a leg of the 4 × 100 m at the UTech Track and Field Classic at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica. The teams winning 38.46 clocking was a new meet record. Frater also ran the 200 m at the event, finishing fourth in 20.96 Frater next competed at the

Penn Relays The Penn Relays (officially The Penn Relay Carnival) is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. In 2012 ...

on 25 April. He ran the second leg of the 4 × 100 m relay. Asafa Powell on the fourth leg pulled up and finished ninth in 41.24 A report in the

Jamaica Observer The ''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by ...

on the morning of the event indicated that Powell had injured his ankle in training and was not expected to run. At the

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

International Invitational On 1 May, Frater placed third in the 100 m in 10.39 On 8 May he finished second in 10.15 at the

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

Athletic Super Grand Prix. He finished eighth at the Reebok Grand Prix held in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Icahn Stadium Icahn Stadium is a 5,000 seat track and field and multipurpose facility located on Randalls Island in Manhattan, New York City. Designed within the former site of Downing Stadium, it opened on April 23, 2005. Icahn Stadium is named after Ame ...

on 30 May. At the

Prefontaine Classic The Prefontaine Classic is a track and field meet held at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Organized by the Oregon Track Club, it was previously one of the IAAF Grand Prix events, and ...

eight days later he finished sixth. Frater showed a spectacular return to form at the Jamaica National Trials, finishing third in the 100 m in 10.02 (−0.2 m/s wind), qualifying for the World Championships in Berlin.

2010

In a surprise upset at the National Championships, Frater was beaten into second place in the 100 m final. Following the National Championships Frater did not compete in the IAAF Diamond League events.

2011

A Gleaner newspaper report revealed that Frater had suffered a ruptured knee ligament in 2010.Staying healthy key for stronger 'Frater' this year
Jamaica-gleaner.com (2011-04-14). Retrieved on 2016-09-01.

2012

As part of the Jamaican 4 × 100 metres relay team, setting the world record and Olympic record on 11 August 2012, at the 2012 London Olympics. Frater ran the second leg, and his split was timed at 8.9 seconds, only surpassed that night by Usain Bolt's 8.8 seconds on the anchor leg.

Accomplishments and major competition results

Personal bests

Competition record

100 metres

4 × 100 metres relay

Time progression in the 100 m

References

External links