SUPER SALLY
Courageous Pearson clears injury hurdles to become new queen of track
IT WAS two years in the making, with some big hurdles to clear, but Sally Pearson knew what she had to do in the hard run back to the top.
Now the new world champion has passed Sydney Olympic queen Cathy Freeman as the most prolific track athlete of the modern era. Pearson’s extraordinary comeback to claim her second world 100m hurdles title – six years after her first – has sealed her place in Australian sporting folklore.
The 30-year-old missed two years because of injury and last year took the unusual step of coaching herself.
The first sign that she was back on track was witnessed by only a few dozen people scattered on the hill at the far side of Sydney Olympic Park in April.
It was a windy day, and national championships organisers decided to move the 100m hurdles final to the back straight to assist the runners.
Pearson was the main attraction but there was more interest than usual about the event. This was the first look at the self-coached Pearson who had been off the scene for more than two years because of injury.
She had run some indoor meets in Europe in February and a couple of trials on the Gold Coast, but this was her first big test.
The 2012 Olympic champion ran 12.53sec to win by a space and while there was an illegal-wind reading, the time was a statement.
“What she did at the nationals was phenomenal,” Hilliard said.
The Pearson comeback had started the previous August while Hilliard was in Rio with the track and field team.
Pearson wasn’t there be-
That’s one of the greatest comebacks in Australian history - AUSTRALIAN HEAD COACH CRAIG HILLIARD
cause of achilles and hamstring problems, which came on top of a broken wrist in 2015, and resulted in her missing the world titles.
After a holiday to New Zealand and a lot of soul searching with husband Kieran, when thoughts of hanging up the spikes were seriously discussed, Pearson decided she was going to give it one last crack. But this time it was going to be different – she was going to coach herself.
Pearson had left her longtime coach Sharon Hannan after the 2013 world championships.
She then had brief periods with unheralded pair Antony Drinkwater-Newman and Ashley Mahoney. Both ended badly.
“It took me hours and hours and hours on the first day to write a program out and decide what was best for me and what I could and couldn’t do, being an older athlete, and having injury troubles,” she said. “I knew that I could do it … the question was, am I going to be able to listen to my body and be smart about it and look after it. I just said, ‘Well, you’re going to have to try’.
“I said to myself if it doesn’t work out in the first couple of months then we’ll have to find someone who can help.”
The 30-year-old arrived at the world championships as the third-fastest hurdler for the year behind world record holder Kendra Harrison.
She wasn’t happy with the time of her heat win but was a different person when she returned eight hours later for the semi-final and ran a slick 12.53sec to be the fastest qualifier through to the final.
The world title race was typical Pearson. Her guts, determination and experience came to the fore while her more fancied rivals floundered around her. Pearson admitted afterwards she’d always thought a second world title was possible. Hilliard said Pearson deserved her place among the greats of Australian sport.
“That’s one of the greatest comebacks in Australian history,” he said.
Pearson was ecstatic. “Every single emotion that you can hold in your body just came out when I crossed that finish line,’’ she said.
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