Sally’s nearing summit
SALLY Pearson coached herself to the top of the world by thinking “that’s not good enough’’ but sometimes you just have to concede things are ticking over nicely.
And so it was at the Queensland athletics championships in Brisbane yesterday when Pearson made predictably short work of the 100m hurdles titles in front of a crowd of about 200 spectators.
The respectful smattering of applause was a far cry from the roar of the packed stadiums that await her Commonwealth Games appearances on the Gold Coast in April but all great journeys start with a small step and this was an assured one.
A slick heat time of 12.65s into a headwind was followed by 12.67s in a wind-assisted final. All up it was a satisfying afternoon from a self-coached athlete who is hard to satisfy.
“I guess you could say I am satisfied,’’ said Pearson, hoping to win the event for a third time at Commonwealth level.
“The heat was really good. The final time was OK. I think I got out a bit stronger in the final but I hit a hurdle towards the end and could not keep the speed up.
“I am definitely where I want to be at the moment. Obviously I race in about 10 weeks and I don’t want to peak now. That would be way too early.
“I want to make sure I leave everything in the tank for April 12 and 13. I am just a bit tired. It is a long day in the sun but I will have physio and make sure I am ready to go at two weeks time at nationals.’’
Pearson is an interesting study because she is one of the few top athletes who is selfcoached and has a world championship gold medal won in London last year to prove the merit of defying convention. Only the strong of mind could do it.
“Sometimes it is easier to be the coach as well because I can see where I have come from, what I am doing now and what I have in a few weeks time. I can judge my progression and so I am very happy with those two hit-outs today on a very blustery Brisbane day,” she said.
“I guess the only way to move forward is to say you are not good enough but at the same time you have to be satisfied where you are at.’’
Pearson is hoping to extend her career beyond the Commonwealth Games to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“I would like to do it. It is just a matter of the body holding up. It is going all right at the moment and is just a matter of ticking it over and doing the right things,” she said.
In other events at the titles, Alex Hartmann (20.97s) and Riley Day (23.67) took out the open 200m titles while the Sunshine Coast’s Lisa Campbell notched her second B qualifying time of 4.25m in the pole vault which means she could be selected for the Games even if she fails to clinch a berth at the nationals.