Sydney: World and Olympic champion Sally Pearson will compete in her first 100 metres hurdles event since winning gold at last year’s London Games when she races in the Czech Republic next week, Athletics Australia said on Thursday.
The 26-year-old will compete in Ostrava next Thursday before taking part in the hurdles at the IAAF Diamond League in Birmingham on June 30, it said on its website (www.athletics.com.au).
Pearson suffered a grade-one hamstring tear in a 4x100m relay at the Asian Grand Prix Athletic Championship in Sri Lanka last month after missing the domestic season with the same injury.
The Queenslander will defend her world championship title in Moscow in August.
Compatriot and 2009 world discus champion Dani Samuels will join Pearson in Birmingham for her first competition since March when she suffered a foot injury.
Samuels said she had learned from her failure to make the final eight in London.
“The expectation around the Olympic Games is something that really grounds you as an athlete and you can come away from it with a clear understanding of what has worked, what needs to change and what you can do to be as strong as possible when it counts,” she said.
“The lesson for me was that I needed to bring some variety back into my programme and I have started to do that.”
