Australian Olympic hurdles champion Sally Pearson  said yesterday she was finally back in the blocks nearly a year after a nasty fall and had her sights set on Rio.
Pearson, who won 100 metres hurdles gold at London in 2012, broke two bones and dislocated her wrist at a Rome Diamond League meeting last June and has not raced since.
“Yesterday was my first session out of the blocks over the hurdles,” 29-year-old Pearson said.
“It all felt really good, I just have to get faster and faster so I can win.”
Australia’s top athlete told reporters she was “full of belief and raring to go for Rio” in August.
“In previous years when I start hurdling it’s a little bit rusty, a little bit shaky, but I felt really confident this time around,” said the 2011 world champion as she modelled Australia’s new Olympic competition kit in Sydney.
She expects to be competing next month to further her fightback.
“So I’ll have a few unofficial first races back and then I’ll head over to Europe and start my campaign towards Rio,” she said.
Pearson had hoped to race during Australia’s domestic season but suffered a series of minor setbacks, including an Achilles tendon scare.
She went to Germany last month to see the doctor who treats sprint king Usain Bolt for an ongoing back problem, Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt, where she sought reassurance that her body would hold up to an Olympic campaign.
She returned saying he had given her a clean bill of health.
Despite her lack of racing, Pearson made the Australian Olympic team after a registering a Games qualifying time before her tumble in Rome.