Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast: Achilles injury forces Aussie star Sally Pearson out

A HEARTBROKEN Sally Pearson has announced her withdrawal from the 2018 Commonwealth Games but she is adamant that retirement was never an option.

A HEARTBROKEN Sally Pearson has announced her withdrawal from the Commonwealth Games.

But she is adamant that retirement was never an option.

The 31-year-old has battled a nagging Achilles injury that has drawn curtains on her attempt at a Commonwealth Games gold medal three-peat in the 100m hurdles.

Pearson described the decision as “gut-wrenching” but said she had left “no stone unturned” in her pursuit to compete.

“I did everything I possibly could,” she said.

Sally Pearson has officially announced her withdrawal from the Commonwealth Games.

“I left no stone unturned to get out her and race for Australia. Everyone who is here knows how much of a competitor I am and how much I love to race for my country. But this is about my health and I want to go to Tokyo in 2020.

“Who knows – if I had run what could have happened and it could have been a lot worse and I could have been out for a lot longer than I am now.”

Pearson said the process of dealing with the news was “like grief”.

“There was the numb phase first and then the crying phase … and then speaking to Craig (Hilliard) and Paul (Blackman, team doctor) and double checking and triple checking it was the right thing to do.”

She said two days ago she was “crying out” in attempting to complete run-throughs on Tuesday with the feeling that “someone was grabbing the back of your Achilles and squeezing”.

Sally Pearson took part in the opening ceremony on Wednesday night.

She dismissed the idea that leaving the decision until now was the wrong thing to do.

She said she wants to compete at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

The local star has been unable to train for the last two months and had held onto hope that her injury – which flared again at a Tuesday training session - would improve in the days leading up to the individual event.

She has also withdrawn from the 4x100 relay team.

Plagued by injury since her gold medal glory at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, having broken her wrist in 2015 and missed out on the Rio Olympics due to Achilles and hamstring troubles.

Pearson said that the Achilles injury had been a “rollercoaster” that “went a little bit too high for this competition”.

Drama at the Comm Games and Sally Pearson go hand in hand..
2006: Fell in 100H final at MCG
2010: DQd in 100m flat before winning 100H
2014: Head coach spat before defending 100H title
2018: Achilles injury set to rob her of home Games appearance#GC2018

— Quentin Hull (@QuentinHull) April 4, 2018

She will spend this year rehabilitating before next year’s world championships and then Tokyo the following year.

Pearson said she is open to changing her training program to suit her body.

“Most definitely. I’m very open minded to programming to suit my body as it is at this time,” she said.

“This will be something that my team and Athletics Australia will nut over … about my loading and my tendons. This tendon is going to be very unpredictable … im looking forward to that. I’m very open minded and I love to learn about being a better coach as well and pushing towards another world title and Olympic title.”

Athletics coach Craig Hilliard said team chef de mission Steve Moneghetti was aware of the injury when the flagbearer was selected, and that Pearson did not want her fight to distract the team as a whole.

Sally Pearson departs after speaking at press conference to announce her withdrawal.

The decision was considered at length yesterday with Pearson fighting to race.

And enjoying last night’s opening ceremony - in which she was the last bearer of the Queen’s Baton - was a part of the decision to announce the call today.

“It was a team decision,” she said.

“We wanted to not take away from the opening ceremony and to allow me to enjoy the last leg of the baton relay ... and enjoy what I can of the Games. That’s why we did decide it, so I could not take away from the opening ceremony.”

Hilliard said it was still being weighed up yesterday afternoon.

“There still was a degree of trepidation … still questioning is this the right decision? We were mulling over a lot of things and that’s why the decision was made for today,” he said.

Australian hurdler Sally Pearson hands the Queen's Baton to Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Chairman Peter Beattie during the Opening Ceremony.

Team doctor Paul Blackman said seeing the physical and mental pain Pearson was enduring was difficult.

“We talk about risk and reward, but there’s this line you can’t define where every athlete has to make a decision - is this the right thing to do?,” he said.

“There’s naturally this oscillation between ... I can, I can’t. That’s a very difficult thing to reconcile for an athlete. Sal’s got a future ahead of her, and she’s got some other goals in mind. She’s missed out on championships before and come back exceedingly well.

“Always as an elite athlete you’ve got to have the big picture in mind. But she’s acutely aware of that as well as desperately wanting to perform at the Commonwealth Games.”