When you come away from defeating a world class field feeling a bit disappointed, it means great things are on the horizon.
That’s the situation which Sally Pearson finds herself in after winning the London leg of the Diamond League. Winning her heat by over a quarter of a second, and the final by close to a tenth of a second, Pearson demonstrated her dominance in what has for the past few years been the closest of events at the global level.
However, despite being undefeated this year, Pearson isn’t ready to rest on her laurels. To do so would be to fly in the face of the attitude that has consolidated her from being a surprise silver medallist at the 2008 Olympic Games to being the top hurdler in the world.
My coach and I, our goal was to get our best time in the final at the world championships and it looks like it’s going that way.
“I’m conscious of it [the added pressure], but that’s what I wanted because I want to win,” Pearson said.
“If you want to win you have to expect everyone to put pressure on you but it’s pressure that I’m confident to have this time around, in other years perhaps not quite as confident, simply because I know I’m in good shape, my body’s holding up well and I’ve finished the European season undefeated and going in as a favourite at the world championships.
“So definitely I’m a lot more confident to take on that role as the best in the world at the moment.”
Although Pearson’s run of 12.58 seconds in the final (-0.4 m/s) wasn’t as fast as her heat run of 12.55 (-0.6 m/s) or her national record of 12.48 seconds, Pearson is confident not only in her ability to defeat all comers, but to run faster.
“I was a bit disappointed with the time today, I thought I could run a lot faster, but I think the time difference between the heat and final was a bit too long,” she said.
“But it’s good, I know there’s still a lot left in the tank. My coach and I, our goal was to get our best time in the final at the world championships and it looks like it’s going that way.
“It was all about winning my four competitions this European season and then going into the world championships as a favourite and then also win there as well. So I wasn’t really chasing times at all this season it was more about continually being in the front.”
Entering the world championships, Pearson holds five of the fastest ten times in the world this year, including the world lead of 12.48 seconds.
