Sally Pearson sensationally withdraws from national championships

Olympic champion Sally Pearson sensationally withdrew from the national championships despite her 100m hurdles heat time bettering the winning time in the final.

Sally Pearson won her 100m hurdles heat. Picture: AAP

Sally Pearson’s no-risk policy after 14 months away from the track saw her sensationally withdraw from the national championships.

The Olympic champion decided to abort her quest for a 10th national 100m hurdles title after a below-par heat run which she won in a disappointing time of 12.99sec.

Pearson revealed afterwards she felt as if she’d run an 800m race in what was her first hurdles race since early last year.

“That race was hard, it was super hard and I don’t know why,” she said.

“It just felt like I had run an 800, that’s what it felt like. I felt buggered.

Sally Pearson won her 100m hurdles heat. Picture: AAP

“I was over-heating, my legs felt like lead, I just needed to get out of there and went straight to the doc at the warm-up track and just had a chat.

“We discussed all the options and this was the decision unfortunately.”

As the defending champion Pearson is already guaranteed a spot at the Doha world championships in October.

The 2012 London Olympic champion is being particularly cautious given she has spent the past 14 months recovering from an achilles injury which forced her out of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

“I’m really disappointed but I’m actually going to listen my body this year and when it’s down and can’t move, I’ve got to listen to it and move onto the next race,” Pearson said.

Pearson was all smiles before her heat. Picture: AAP

“A lot of that 14 months was rehab, trying to get back into training again and then from about October-November I was trying to get fast again.

“And then the first race, it’s all happened in a very short amount of time to get back to 100 per cent and my body is just saying ‘Don’t do it. You don’t need to now’.

“I’ve got six more months until the world championships and at the end of the day you have to respect your body and that’s what I’m doing at the moment.”

Pearson, 32, spoke in the lead-up to the national championships that she wanted to make a statement to her overseas rivals by producing something of note in her return.

Despite the setback, the two-time world champion is sticking to her schedule which includes a short tour of Japan, leaving on April 18.

In Pearson’s absence, Victorian heptathlete Celeste Mucci was a surprise national champion after she produced a massive personal best of 13.09sec to defeat Brianna Beahan (13.11sec) and Michelle Jenneke (13.12sec).

Celeste Mucci surprised the field to take out the 100m hurdles title in Pearson’s absence. Picture: Getty

Mucci, 19, became the first athlete to win national titles in the heptathlon and 100m hurdles since Jane Fleming in 1994.

Meanwhile, Athletics Australia is set to make a last-ditch bid to convince New Zealand-born sprint star Eddie Nketia to wear the green and gold at international level.

Nketia, 17, was impressive beating Rohan Browning and Trae Williams to claim the 100m title on Saturday night.

Given he spent eight years in Canberra before moving back to Wellington last year to finish his schooling, AA believes the door is open to convince him to return to the Australian system.

Nketia, whose father Gus is New Zealand’s 100m record holder, must decide before June’s Oceania championships whether he wishes to represent Australia or New Zealand at international level.