Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser celebrates winning the gold medal in the women's 100-metre final. - AP

'FLO-JO' had the flashy costumes and fingernails; Edwin Moses made the headband fashionable. Shelly-Ann Fraser took the ghetto-fabulous hairdo to the Olympics and won big time.

The new 100-metre champion has made more than a statement with her blistering performances at the Beijing, China Games. Her tresses also caught the eye, as they were in a different fashion each time she took the track.

Remona 'Nicky' Francis has been 'styling' Fraser's hair at her Waterhouse home for the past two years. She told The Gleaner that the sprinter is extremely fashion conscious.

"Shi love the rope-twist an' extension, an' shi love har hair inna different colour ... burgundy, red, gold. Shi love the bright colour dem," Francis said.

Home parlour

Fraser visits Francis' home parlour every three weeks for a new 'do'. On her last trip, she went for a golden braid job which she did away with just before leaving for Beijing with the Jamaican squad.

She sported a shoulder-length weave for her dash to victory on Sunday.

Braids have been a popular look for Jamaica's female athletes over the years. Merlene Ottey and Grace Jackson wore the Afrocentric look during their long careers. Braids are still trendy but in recent times, they have run a distant second to the weave which is the rage among competitors of African descent.

Fashion in track and field took in the last 30 years.

The American 400 metres hurdler Edwin Moses made wearing tested glasses and headbands cool in the late 1970s and early 1980s. But it was the flamboyant sprinter Florence 'Flo-Jo' Griffith-Joyner who created the biggest stir with her eye-catching body suits and colourful, elongated fingernails.

At this Olympics, the American male and female beach volleyball teams have been the rage with their skimpy outfits.

Shelly-Ann Fraser- Peta-Gaye Clachar/Staff Photographer