18 Facts About Sally Pearson

1.

Sally Pearson, OAM is a retired Australian athlete who competed on the 100 metre hurdles.

2.

Sally Pearson is the 2011 and 2017 World champion and 2012 Olympic champion in the 100 metres hurdles.

3.

Sally Pearson won a silver medal in the 100 m hurdles at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2013 World Championships.

4.

Sally Pearson was born in Sydney and moved to Birdsville, Queensland when she was eight years old, before eventually settling on the Gold Coast.

5.

At the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Sally Pearson tripped over a hurdle and fell to the ground during the 100 m hurdles final, costing her the chance of a medal.

6.

At the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, Sally Pearson competed in the 100 m sprint in addition to the 100 m hurdles.

7.

At the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, Sally Pearson ran a 100m hurdles time of 12.28s, the fourth fastest time in history, following the semi-finals where she produced the equal fifth fastest time in history of 12.36s to beat her own Oceanian area record and Australian national record.

8.

Sally Pearson led the competition after Round 1 heats with 12.57 and lead coming into the final with a semi-final time of 12.39.

9.

Sally Pearson won gold with a new Olympic record time of 12.35s beating out Americans Dawn Harper, 12.37, and Kellie Wells, 12.48, who both recorded personal bests.

10.

At the Golden Gala, Sally Pearson fell over a hurdle badly mid-race.

11.

Sally Pearson suffered a "bone explosion" of her left forearm and broke her wrist.

12.

Sally Pearson was set to be a strong contender to defend her gold medal title she won at the London 2012 Olympics.

13.

However, during a hard training session Sally Pearson slightly tore her hamstring forcing her out of the Rio 2016 games.

14.

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

15.

Sally Pearson was to compete in the 100 metre hurdles and 4x100 relay but later withdrew due to an Achilles tendon injury.

16.

On 5 August 2019, Sally Pearson announced her retirement from competitive athletics, stating that she did not believe that she would be ready for the 2020 Olympic Games.

17.

In May 2023, it was announced that Sally Pearson would be participating in the twentieth series of Dancing with the Stars.

18.

Sally Pearson was raised by her single mother Anne, who worked two jobs to make enough money to support her daughter's athletic career.