Michael Frater O.D (born 6 October 1982) is a Jamaican retired sprinter who specialised in the 100 metres event. He won a silver medal at the 2005 World Championships and a gold medal at the 2003 Pan American Games for the event.
He has also been successful as part of the Jamaican 4 × 100 metres relay team, setting the world record and Olympic record at the 2012 London Olympics and 2008 Beijing Olympics. He also won gold in the relay at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and took silver in the 2002 edition.
Career Born on 6 October 1982, in Manchester, Jamaica, 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 Jamaica at the 2000 Olympic Games. Frater stated that his brother was a major influence on his decision to become a track athlete.Frater, little but tallawah. Sports Jamaica (2005-08-17). Retrieved on 2009-03-17.
Frater attended Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas.Frogs in the Olympics . Texas Christian University (2008-08-04). Retrieved on 2009-03-17. He is a member of the MVP (Maximising Velocity and Power) Track & Field Club based at the University of Technology, Jamaica (U-Tech), Kingston, 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, Kingston. On 22 March, he won the Class 3 100 metres in 11.10 and the Class 3 200 metres in 22.73.National Boys & Girls Athletic Championship National Stadium, Kingston, Jamaica, W.I. – Wed 24/03/99 to Mon 30/08/99. cfpitiming.com
Frater won gold at the CARIFTA Games, 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. He also won a silver medal in the 4 × 100 m relay event.
1999 On 9 July Frater won a silver medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the Pan American Junior Championships. He ran the second leg for Jamaica, who finished in 40.27 behind the United States team.1999 Pan Am Junior Championship Tampa, Florida – Friday 9 July 1999 to Sunday 11 July 1999. cfpitiming.com
Eight days later Frater won a gold medal at the World Youth Championships.4x100 m relay 99 World Youth Championships. iaaf.org 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.World Youth (Under 18 Best Performance. Gbrathletics.com. Retrieved on 2016-09-01.
2000 Frater finished second in the 100 m with 10.50 at the Jamaica National Junior Championships on 30 June.2000 Jamaica National Junior Championships. Cfpitiming.com. Retrieved on 2016-09-01.
Running for Boyd Anderson High School in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, he won the Florida state championship in the 100 m, and was selected as the Gatorade Outstanding High School Track Athlete for the state.Michael Frater – Training for greatness. jamaica-gleaner.com (26 February 2006)
In October, Frater finished fifth in the 100 m at the IAAF World Junior Championships in a personal best 10.46100 m final IAAF WJC 2000. iaaf.org and again fifth when running the first leg of the 4 × 100 m relay in 40.07.4x100 m final IAAF WJC 2000. iaaf.org
2002 Frater won the 100 m at the Conference USA Outdoor Championships in 10.07.100 m 2002 Conference USA Outdoor Championships. Flashresults.com. Retrieved on 2016-09-01. 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).2002 Conference USA Outdoor Championships. Flashresults.com. Retrieved on 2016-09-01. He won the 200 m at the same event, in 20.45200 m 2002 Conference USA Outdoor Championships. Flashresults.com. Retrieved on 2016-09-01. 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 39.17,4x100 m 2002 Conference USA Outdoor Championships. Flashresults.com. Retrieved on 2016-09-01. 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 in Manchester 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, 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.2003 Conference USA Indoor Championships. Flashresults.com. Retrieved on 2016-09-01.
Frater finished third in the 100 m at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, earning all-American honors.TCU's Frater and Edwards Earn All-America Honors. Conferenceusa.cstv.com. Retrieved on 2016-09-01.
In early August at the Pan American Games, Frater finished second in the 100 m in 10.21Day 2 results, 2003 Pan American Games. Usatf.org. Retrieved on 2016-09-01. 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 laterPAN AMERICAN GAMES; Sprinter Tests Positive, Costing U.S. Two Golds. New York Times (2003-08-13). Retrieved on 2016-09-01. when American Mickey Grimes tested positive for the stimulant ephedrine,Grimes fails doping test. Rediff.com. Retrieved on 2016-09-01. resulting in the disqualification of Grimes and the US relay team.
Three weeks later at the World Championships in Paris, 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 10.25.100 m quarter final results 2003 World Championships. iaaf.org He helped the 4 × 100 m relay team qualify second quickest4x100 m semi final 2003 World Championships. iaaf.org for the final, running the third leg in the semi-final. In the final the baton exchange was not executed cleanly between Dwight Thomas and Frater, resulting in a DNF for the team.4x100 m relay final 2003 World Championships. iaaf.org
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.100 m 2004 Conference USA Outdoor Championships. Flashresults.com. Retrieved on 2016-09-01.
On 12 June Frater finished second in 10.059 to Tyson Gay 10.051 at the NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the University of Texas.TCU's Frater Misses Gold By .008 Seconds. Conferenceusa.cstv.com. Retrieved on 2016-09-01.NCAA Division I outdoor Championships. Flashresults.com. Retrieved on 2016-09-01. As a member of the TCU relay team he finished fourth in the 4 × 100 m event.4x100 m relay 2003 NCAA Division 1 Championships. Flashresults.com. Retrieved on 2016-09-01.
Frater was knocked out in the first semi-final of the 100 m sprint at the 2004 Athens Olympics, finishing sixth in 10.29 into a −1.6 m/s headwind.Athens 100 m semi-final results. iaaf.org 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.4x100 m heat results Athens Olympics. iaaf.org
2005 On 16 July Frater won the Meeting de Madrid IAAF Grand Prix event, recording 10.22 into a −0.7 m/s headwind.100 m result Meeting de Madrid 2005. iaaf.org
In the 2005 World Championships, he won the silver medal in the 100 m with 10.05, finishing second to American Justin Gatlin,100 m final 2005 World Championships. iaaf.org who was subsequently banned from competition in 2006 for four years after testing positive for testosterone or its precursor.Shipley, Amy (1 January 2008) Gatlin Loses Fight, Receives 4-Year Doping Ban. Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved on 2016-09-01. 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 and Northern Ireland team.4x100 m relay final 2005 World Championships. iaaf.org
Although he qualified for the 100 m at the 2005 World Athletics Final in Monaco, Frater did not start the race.100 m result 2005 World Athletics Final. iaaf.org
2006 Frater was disqualified in the semi-finals of the 100 m sprint because of a false start at the Commonwealth Games 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 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 38.36.4x100 m relay result 2006 Commonwealth Games. Melbourne2006.com.au. Retrieved on 2016-09-01.
Frater withdrew from competing in the Jamaica International Invitational on 6 May, his coach citing financial issues and "disrespect"Frater pulls out of meet. jamaica-gleaner.com (6 May 2006)
In June, Frater won the 100 m in 10.18 at the JAAA National Championships, succeeding Asafa Powell as Jamaica National Champion.2006 JAAA National Championships He and his brother Lindel are the only brothers to win the 100 m event at the national championships.National Champions 100 m
2007 Frater, 10.13, finished second to Darrel Brown, 10.02, of Trinidad at the Jamaica International Invitational on 5 May.100 m results Jamaica International Invitational 2007
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 (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 World Championships 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.Six men below 10-seconds in windy Zaragoza. Sprintic.com. Retrieved on 2016-09-01.
Frater finished third in the 100 m at the 2007 World Athletics Final, Stuttgart, in 10.11100 m result 2007 World Athletics Final. iaaf.org
2008 On 28 June 2008, Frater finished third in the Jamaica National Championships (behind Usain Bolt 9.85, Asafa Powell 9.97) in 10.04, and qualified for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
He finished sixth in the Olympic 100 m final setting a personal best of 9.97 seconds.