I’M NOT DONE YET
CHAMPION hurdler Sally Pearson says her shock withdrawal from the Commonwealth Games is not the end of her decorated career.
The face of the Gold Coast Games knew her dreams of competing were over after an Achilles injury flared during a training session on Wednesday.
“Everyone who is here today knows how much of a competitor I am and how much I love running for my country and my teammates ... but for me this is about my health and I want to go to Tokyo (Olympics) in 2020,” she said yesterday.
SALLY Pearson secretly hid her grief about pulling out of the Commonwealth Games when she played a starring role in Wednesday night’s opening ceremony.
The face of the Gold Coast Games knew her dreams of competing were over after an Achilles injury flared 24 hours earlier during a training session.
Pearson elected to deal with her pain and sadness in silence, preferring not to take any attention away from the opening of the Games and her role as the final Queen’s baton relay runner.
The two-time Commonwealth champion admitted she’d gone through a range of emotions as she wrestled with the decision, going back and forth with the Australian team’s medical staff, before eventually conceding she wouldn’t be competing at her hometown Games.
“I did everything I possibly could, I left no stone unturned to get out here and race for Australia in the 100m hurdles and 4x100m relay,” Pearson said.
“Everyone who is here today knows how much of a competitor I am and how much I love running for my country and my teammates and I know I have a lot of fans who are wanting to watch me race.
“But for me this is about my health and I want to go to Tokyo (Olympics) in 2020.
“I was absolutely gutted. There were a lot of tears flowing, there were a lot of emotions, I guess you could call it grief going through the numb phase first, then going through the crying phase.
“It’s gut wrenching, it’s heartbreaking and its very unfortunate that I can’t get out there.
“I went to the opening ceremony and heard the roar for Australia and not being able to feel that for myself in my individual events is very disappointing.”
Pearson, 31, has been battling Achilles issues since 2015 and described dealing with the problem as like being on a “rollercoaster”.
The injury flared again in January but she was then able to compete at the Games selection trials and world indoor championships.
She even raced in a relay in Brisbane last week but it was during a training session on Tuesday where the pain of the injury became too much to bear.
“The best way to explain the feeling is someone has got the back of your Achilles and
I WAS ABSOLUTELY GUTTED. THERE WERE A LOT OF TEARS FLOWING, THERE WERE A LOT OF EMOTIONS SALLY PEARSON
is just squeezing it as hard as they can and you’re trying to run through that,” she said. “It just doesn’t work.”
Team doctor Paul Blackman said seeing the physical and mental pain Pearson was enduring was difficult.
“We talk about risk and reward, but there’s this line you can’t define where every athlete has to make a decision – is this the right thing to do?,” he said.
“Sally being the competitor she is, even though we made that decision (to withdraw) on the day, 24 hours later she is still thinking I can do this.”
Pearson didn’t consider retirement and is confident she can be at her best for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, replicating her stunning return at the 2017 world championships where she won her second world title after two years out.
“I know deep down I can come back and be just as strong as I was last year,” she said.
“Even before the Glasgow Commonwealth Games I tore my hamstring seven weeks before and came out and won gold.
“It just proves to me, I guess, more than anything, if I still want to do it, if I still love what I do, if I still really enjoy what I do, why am I going to give that up?
“If I feel deep down that I can give so much more in this sport for the next few years then why don’t I give it a shot?
“I know that the Australian public believes in who I am as an athlete and I know that they believe I can get back and run for Australia in the next two years leading up to Tokyo and I know that they believe that I can be at my top again.
“That is what I hold onto, that is the dream I hold onto. I want to finish off this career the best way possible and I think I can still do that.”
Pearson’s withdrawal has robbed the Commonwealth Games of its biggest star and chairman Peter Beattie said he was “saddened” by the chain of events.
“Sally’s presence on the track will be missed, but we know she will be supporting the Australian team from the stands,” Beattie said.
Pearson will continue her role as Australian team captain over the next two weeks, happily becoming a “water girl” for her teammates.
“I said that to them all, if you need anything I’m here for you as I’ve got lot of time on my hands now.”
Games legend Robert de Castella says the Australian team would not be thrown off stride by the withdrawal of Pearson.
“Although it’s an Australian team which everyone is proud to be part of, they are individual athletes and all they will be focused on is doing the best they can,’’ said de Castella, who backed Pearson to line up at next year’s world championships with “renewed passion to succeed”.