by Larry EderSally Pearson is Australian. At fifteen, Sally started hurdling in a sun drenched country that desires its sports stars to be the best. Not second best, not silver medals here, but gold medals. Sally Pearson, over the past decade, has developed into the premier women 100 meter hurdler in the world.
The 100 meter hurdles is a race that requires speed and agility. Sally Pearson has both. In the early season each year, Pearson runs the 100 meters and the 200 meters to work on her speed. And, the swift Aussie has speed, mark my word.
In Beijing 2008, Sally Pearson took the silver medal to Dawn Harper of the US. In 2011, Sally took the gold in the World Champs, with Harper taking the bronze and the US’ Dawn Carruthers taking the silver.
The 2012 season had few hiccups for Sally Pearson. She won the 60m hurdle title at the World Indoor Champs in Istanbul, Turkey in March 2012. In July 2012, Sally finished second, only the second time that had happened in a 100m hurdle race since 2010, to Kellie Wells, the US hurdler.
The final in London had everyone who was in top form at the time. And just before the final, it started raining, lightly, cooling down the stadium. Just enough to cause some people a bit of trepidation. However, Sally Pearson got out well, as did Dawn Harper. By the fourth hurdle, Kellie Wells and Lo Lo Jones were fighting for the bronze and Dawn Harper and Sally Pearson, neck and neck, were dueling.
They went over hurdles five and six, with Pearson right along side Dawn Harper, who was not giving an inch. Pearson did not loose her cool. She stayed on task over hurdles seven, eight and nine. Over hurdle ten, Sally Pearson took and slight lead, and used that sprinting power to rush to the finish line, outleaning Dawn Harper for the gold medal, 12.35 to 12.37!
When Sally Pearson says, ” I can see a world record in the future”, listen sports fans, because Pearson can do it.
The following video, from our digital partners, the Shoe Addicts, LLC, captures what makes Sally Pearson, 2012 London Olympic gold medalist, so special:
