Sally’s out of the final

DISAPPOINTED Sally Pearson has listened to her body and made the difficult decision to withdraw from the 100m hurdles final at the national championships after feeling exhausted following her opening-round heat.

In her first competitive hurdles race in 14 months, the 2012 Olympic gold medallist and two-time world champion claimed a narrow heat win in 12.99 seconds in steamy conditions in Sydney yesterday.

“That race was hard, it was super hard and I don’t know why,” said Pearson. “Speaking to the doc afterwards, it just felt like I had run an 800, whatever that feels like.

“I felt buggered.

“And because I have the choice not to run in the final I’m going to take it. I’m already going to the world champs and I’ll move on to next week.”

As the defending champion, Pearson gets automatic selection for October’s world titles in Doha.