Star finds another gear when put to test

AUSTRALIAN head coach Craig Hilliard believes Sally Pearson deserves her place among the greats of Australian track and field.

Pearson’s second world title in London puts her in the league of Australia’s sporting greats, alongside Sydney Olympics golden girl Cathy Freeman.

Hilliard said he was not surprised by the Gold Coast hurdler’s fairytale comeback given her ability to find another gear.

“She’s like Cathy Freeman, she finds another 10 per cent,” he said. “She’s just a classic athlete who finds another level. When the bar is raised, she finds it.’’

After crossing the finish line first, Pearson said she had always thought a second world title – her first was in 2011 – was possible.

“From the first day I started training I knew it was possible, I knew I could get here,” she said. “I remember someone saying, ‘You can be the world champion again’ and I didn’t feel awkward about that.

“I felt that I knew it was in me to do it.

“If I don’t feel that spark I know there’s something wrong but I felt it straight away.”

Hilliard had his first look at the self-coached Pearson at the national titles in April, after her absence of almost two years because of injury.

The 2012 Olympic champion ran 12.53 sec.

What he saw blew him away and reduced Pearson to tears.

“What she did at the nationals was phenomenal,” Hilliard said. “I think that gave her an enormous degree of confidence.”

In July, she went back to the scene of her greatest triumph, the London Olympic stadium, for the London Diamond, where she ran 12.48 sec – her fastest time for five years.