PEARSON PICKS COAST AS SPORTING CAPITAL
AUSTRALIAN champion hurdler Sally Pearson has called for the Gold Coast to become Australia’s new sporting capital against the likes of Melbourne.
Pearson, who announced the nominees of the Gold Coast Sports Star of the Year Awards on Wednesday, said there was a “tremendous amount of talent” that warranted the Glitter Strip replacing Melbourne or Sydney as the country’s biggest sports hub.
“We have such a tremendous amount of talent here on the Gold Coast, even more than just talent we have world-class athletes, worldrecord holders, world champions, Olympians, Paralympians,” Pearson said.
“I don’t know how we could make this city an even bigger sporting hub.
“We’re getting better and it’s building every year. This is the place to be if you want to be an athlete.
“Obviously it’s hard to go past Melbourne, it’s a huge sporting capital of Australia and I still believe we can get there. The weather conditions first. Who wants to go train in Melbourne? You never know what you’re going to get.”
With the Brisbane 2032 Olympics only 10 years away, Pearson said the Gold Coast was the ideal destination for the nation’s biggest sports to base themselves out of.
“Who wouldn’t want to come to the Gold Coast, the facilities and weather that we have, the ease of getting around, it’s not a busy city, so why not come here and train?
“We can host anything – why not?”
Pearson, a four-time winner of the Sports Star of the Year award, said it took “work and dedication” to achieve the feats necessary to win such an award.
“If you want to be the best in the world it’s a full-time job mentally and physically, it takes all of you to become the best athlete that you can be.
“When organisations can recognise athletes for that it makes it all worth it in a way.”