2012 champion Pearson withdraws from Rio Olympics

SALLY Pearson will not defend her Olympic title after tearing her hamstring while training on the Gold Coast.

“We went and got scans and it showed it was actually a tendon tear”.

Sally Pearson of Australia celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women’s 100m hurdles at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, August 1, 2014. “Any tendon in the body takes a long time to recover”.

“It’s devastating that I can’t be at Rio as the Olympic champ”.

In a blog post on June 18, Pearson reflected on the “broken bones, torn calf, degenerative achilles and hammy problems” that have plagued her over the past year.

Pearson said she couldn’t risk long-term damage, and a fierce competitive streak prevented her from concealing the injury in the hope of just being able to contest the heats in Rio.

Pearson, 29, reportedly sustained the injury while training at her base on the Gold Coast at the weekend.

Sally returned to Australia earlier this month determined to improve her form in time for the Olympics after struggling during her recent comeback races in Europe.

“I think they would definitely be taking concerns seriously, with the political and economic situation in the country – there were reports again overnight of police not being paid”, she said.

Despite her assurances that the Australian team would be 100 per cent safe, she admitted “we still respect that everyone needs to make their own decision”.

“Unfortunately, it is the biggest sporting event in the world that I am going to be missing out on and I can’t be a part of. For me, it’s the excitement, the fun and the pure determination that I can overcome the setbacks and still deliver my best”. I came home 2 get another week of training in for my preps for rio!

She said upon her return home that she had “left nothing in the tank” but said on Wednesday she was finally starting to feel physically better before her hopes were crushed earlier this week. He told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that Pearson would not be available to media until Thursday.

Having won gold in the 110m hurdles in London in 2012, the Aussie wasn’t favoured to repeat such heroics this year.

Chiller said on Wednesday, while she had not received a direct response from Rio organisers, the International Olympic Committee supported the stance of the AOC.