Sally Pearson, OAM (née McLellan; born 19 September 1986) is a retired Australian

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

who competed in the

100 metre hurdles The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women (the male counterpart is the 110 metres hurdles). For the race, ten Hurdling, hurdles of a height of are placed along a straight course of . The first ...

. She is the

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and 2017 World champion and 2012 Olympic champion in the 100 metres hurdles. She also won a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

in the 100 m hurdles at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2013 World Championships.

Athletic career

Sally Pearson was born in Sydney and moved to Birdsville, Queensland when she was eight years old, before eventually settling on the Gold Coast. It was there, while she was still in primary school, that her athletic talents were noticed by Sharon Hannan, who coached her until 2013. Pearson rose to prominence in 2001, when at the age of only 14, she won the Australian Youth 100 m and 90 m hurdles titles., Athletics Australia, 2002, Retrieved on 18 October 2015 After injury setbacks during 2002 she made her international debut at the 2003 World Youth Championships in

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...

, Canada and won

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

in the 100 m hurdles. The following month, still only 16 years old, she represented Australia at open level at the 2003 World Championships in Paris, France as part of the 4 × 100 m relay team. In 2004, she won a

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

in the 100 m at the World Junior Championships, and just missed out on a medal in the 100 m hurdles. At the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Pearson tripped over a hurdle and fell to the ground during the 100 m hurdles final, costing her the chance of a medal. In 2007, she continued to pursue both the 100 m and the 100 m hurdles, making the semi-final of each event at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

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, Japan. However, in the lead up to the

2008 Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

, she shifted her focus solely to the 100 m hurdles. This decision paid off, with Pearson claiming the silver medal in a dramatic final, where the favourite

Lolo Jones Lori Susan "Lolo" Jones (born August 5, 1982) is an American hurdler and Bobsleigh, bobsledder who specializes in the 60 metre hurdles, 60-meter and 100-meter hurdles. She won three NCAA titles and garnered 11 All-American honors while at Louisi ...

stumbled and a

photo finish A photo finish occurs in a sporting race when multiple competitors cross the finishing line at nearly the same time. As the naked eye may not be able to determine which of the competitors crossed the line first, a photo or video taken at the fini ...

was required to decide the minor medals. After the announcement of the official results a jubilant Pearson celebrated enthusiastically with bronze medal winner Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, and gave an emotional trackside interview. Pearson was in good form during the 2009 European season, winning five out of seven races and breaking the

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

and Oceanian record in the 100 m hurdles at the Herculis meeting in July, with a time of 12.50 seconds; 0.03 faster than the area record she had set on the same track a year earlier. However, she was hampered by back spasms in the lead up to the

in Berlin, and was only able to finish fifth in the 100 m hurdles final.

2010 Commonwealth Games

At the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, Pearson competed in the 100 m sprint in addition to the 100 m hurdles. In the final of the 100 m she recorded a false start, along with English runner Laura Turner, but was allowed to line up for the restart, crossing the finish line first in a time of 11.28s. However a protest was lodged after the race, which resulted in a distraught Pearson being disqualified.Reuters (7 October 2009)
“Games-Oludamola wins 100m after Pearson disqualified”

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

. Retrieved on 7 October 2010"Pearson 'shouldn't have been allowed to run' "
ABC Grandstand Sport. 2010-10-08, Retrieved on 8 October 2010 Three nights later she went on to win gold in the 100 m hurdles final in 12.67 seconds.
ABC Grandstand Sport. 11 October 2010. Retrieved 11 October 2010 Pearson was also controversially included in the Australian team for the final of the women's 4 × 400 m relay, an event she had not trained for, and collapsed after running the anchor leg, the Australian team having finished in fifth place. Even though she thought she had let the team down, her teammates comforted her. At the beginning of the next season, she won the 100 m, 200 m and 100 m hurdles to become the first Australian woman to win three national titles at the same event since Pam Kilborn had done in 1968.

2011 World championships

At the 2011 World Championships in

Daegu Daegu (; ), formerly spelled Taegu and officially Daegu Metropolitan City (), is a city in southeastern South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; the fourth-largest List of provincial-level ci ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, Pearson ran a 100 m hurdles time of 12.28s (+1.1), the fourth fastest time in history, following the semi-finals where she produced the equal fifth fastest time in history of 12.36s (+0.3) to beat her own Oceanian area record and Australian national record.

2012 Olympics

Coming into the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, for the 100 m hurdles Pearson had won 32 races from 34 starts. She led the competition after Round 1 heats with 12.57 and lead coming into the final with a semi-final time of 12.39. Pearson won gold with a new Olympic record time of 12.35s (Wind (m/s): -0.2) beating out Americans Dawn Harper, 12.37, and Kellie Wells, 12.48, who both recorded personal bests.

2015

At the

Golden Gala Golden Gala is an annual Track and field, track and field event normally held at the Stadio Olimpico, Olympic Stadium in Rome, Italy. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. Following the 2013 deat ...

, Pearson fell over a hurdle badly mid-race. She suffered a "bone explosion" of her left forearm and broke her wrist. The traumatic injury ruined the remainder of her 2015 season.

2016

Sally Pearson was set to be a strong contender to defend her gold medal title she won at the London 2012 Olympics. However, during a hard training session Pearson slightly tore her hamstring forcing her out of the Rio 2016 games.

2017 World championships

Pearson won the gold medal in the 100 metres hurdles at the 2017 World Championships in London with a time of 12.59.

2018 Commonwealth Games

Pearson was to compete in the 100 metre hurdles and 4 × 100 relay but later withdrew due to an Achilles tendon injury.

Retirement

On 5 August 2019, Pearson announced her retirement from competitive athletics, stating that she did not believe that she would be ready for the 2020 Olympic Games. Pearson stated: "It has been a long 16 years, but also a fun and exciting 16 years. My body has decided it is time to let it go, and move forward onto a new direction." She is the eighth fastest 100 m hurdles sprinter in history. In February 2022, Pearson joined '' Seven News Gold Coast'' as a sport presenter. She remained in the role until '' Seven News Gold Coast'' was axed in November 2024. In May 2023, it was announced that Pearson would be participating in the twentieth series of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

''. She was paired with Mitch Kirkby. In February 2025, Pearson joined ''

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon. Terminology Although the S ...

'' as a reporter.

Recognition

*2008/2009 – Athletics Australia Female Athlete of the Year. *2011 – Female Athlete of the Year. She is the first Australian to receive this award. Pearson also received prizemoney of 98,800($US76,117). *2011 – "Key to the

City of Gold Coast The City of Gold Coast is the Local government in Australia, local government area spanning the Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, and surrounding areas. With a population of 606,774, it is the second most populous local ...

". *2012 – Athletics Australia Female Athlete of the Year. *2012 – Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Don Award *2012 – Queensland Sports Star of the Year. *2013 – National Finalist Young Australian of the Year *2014 –

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

(OAM) for service to sport as a gold medallist at the London 2012 Olympic Games. *2014 – Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Don Award. *2014 – Women's Health Sports Woman *2017 – Australian Institute of Sport Female Athlete of the Year *2017 – Athletics Australia Female Athlete of the Year. *2018 – Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games final Queens Baton Relay runner *2024 –

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Don Bradman, Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and ...

inductee

Personal life

Pearson was raised by her single mother Anne, who worked two jobs to make enough money to support her daughter's athletic career.Halloran, Jessica (7 June 2008
"Hurdles a way of life for Sally"
''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

''. Retrieved on 7 September 2009. In late 2008 she became engaged to Kieran Pearson, the pair having been together since their senior year at Helensvale State High School on Queensland's Gold Coast.Grant, Dwayne (24 January 2008
"Sally's story"
goldcoast.com.au. Retrieved on 7 September 2009 In April 2010 they married on the Gold Coast, and had their honeymoon in Los Angeles and Hawaii.

Achievements

Personal bests

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

– 11.14 secs (2007) *

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

– 22.97 secs (2015) * 100 metres hurdles – 12.28 secs (2011) (eighth fastest time in history)

Records

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Sally 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from the Gold Coast, Queensland Athletes from the Gold Coast, Queensland Athletes from Queensland Sportswomen from New South Wales Sportswomen from Queensland Athletes from Sydney Australian female hurdlers Australian female sprinters Olympic athletes for Australia Olympic gold medalists for Australia Olympic silver medalists for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia World Athletics Championships medalists Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia World Athletics Championships winners Diamond League winners World Athletics Indoor Championships winners IAAF Continental Cup winners Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Australian Athletics Championships winners Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees 21st-century Australian sportswomen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in athletics