Sally Pearson to run in 4 X 100m relay in Brisbane to assist teammates qualify for Games
by: Glenda Korporaal
From:The Australian
January 11, 201212:00AM
WORLD 100m hurdles champion Sally Pearson will make her first appearance in the Olympic year at the Brisbane Track Classic on Saturday.
Pearson, who was also named the female athlete of the year for 2011 by the International Amateur Athletic Federation, will contest the 4x100m relay, hoping to help her teammates qualify for the London Games.
Pearson, who has been having treatment for a quadriceps injury sustained late last year, may also consider running the 100 metres after the relay.
She seems set to continue her strategy of only doing sprints in the Australian track season, opting to concentrate on her competitive hurdling closer to the northern summer.
A squad of five has been named for the 4x100m relay on Saturday including Pearson, Melissa Breen, Charlotte van Veenendaal, Laura Whaler and Hayley Butler.
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All four Australian relay teams, men’s and women’s 4x100m and 4x400m, will be competing in Brisbane at the meeting, which has international relay qualification status for the Olympics.
Olympic 400m hurdle hopeful Jana Pittman, who announced last week that she was splitting with long-time coach Phil King, will also be competing on the weekend, running in a 300m race and in the women’s 4x400m relay.
Pittman has been battling leg injuries which have kept her out of top-level international competition in recent years but is now focused on earning selection for London.
Queenslander Pearson is regarded as the strongest chance of an Australian athletics gold medal on the track at the London Games following her win at the world titles in Daegu, Korea, last August.
Pearson has already done an Olympic A qualifying time in the 100m as well as her 12.28sec win in Korea.
Commonwealth pole vault champion Alana Boyd, who has jumped an Olympic A qualifying height, will also be competing on Saturday.
The Australian athletics team for London is set to be named after the selection trials in Melbourne on March 2 and 3.
The 2012 Australian athletics tour starts on January 28 in Adelaide, before heading to Perth on February 11, where reigning Olympic champion Steve Hooker will face former US pole vaulting champion Mark Hollis.
That will be followed by the Sydney Track Classic on February 18 and Melbourne Track Classic in early March.