The highs and highs of Sally Pearson’s 100m hurdles career
By Susie East
Published
1:51 PM EDT, Tue March 17, 2015
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Hurdler Sally Pearson has her eyes on the prize...
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Pearson is the fifth fastest 100 meter hurdler in history and became the 10th female Australian track athlete to win an Olympic gold medal after her record breaking run in the London 2012 Olympics.
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After being talent spotted in primary school the Australian quickly rose to prominence in 2001 when at the age of 14 she won the Australian under-20 100m title.
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Choosing to specialize in the 100m hurdles, Pearson came into the 2012 London Olympics having won 32 races from 34 starts.
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In the Women's 100m Hurdles final she stormed to victory, setting an Olympic record of 12.35 seconds after beating Americans Dawn Harper and Kellie Wells who both recorded personal bests in the final.
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As a teenager Pearson was inspired by Cathy Freeman's 400m golden run in the 2000 Sydney Olympics ...
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... A lot of hard work later Pearson had her very own gold medal.
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In recognition of her talents Pearson was awarded the IAAF's female athlete of the year award in 2011 after clocking a time of 12.28 seconds in the world championships -- just 0.07 shy of the world record.
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Pearson also went on to win at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, adding another gold medal to her glittering collection.