Sally Pearson has played down the prospect of ever featuring at a winter Olympics, but the champion hurdler has set her sights on becoming the first Australian woman to break the 11-second barrier in the 100m sprint.
Former 400m hurdler Jana Pittman became the first woman to represent Australia in both a winter and summer Olympics when she paired with Astrid Radjenovic to finish 14th in the two-person bobsleigh in Sochi.
Pittman wants other Australian track athletes to also make the switch to the winter Olympics, and she's emailed Pearson to sound out her interest.
But Pearson, who won gold in the 100m hurdles at the London Games, said she wasn't overly keen to move across to the winter Games.
"I remember saying to someone the other day that almost every single one of those winter Olympic events you can kill yourself in," Pearson said.
"So I'm not too excited about it. You can never say never, but at this stage no."
Pearson will be in action on Saturday night when she competes in the 100m flat and 100m hurdles at the Perth Track Classic.
Although hurdles is still Pearson's pet event, the 27-year-old wants to make more inroads in the 100m sprint.
She faces a stiff challenge to become the country's No.1 sprinter after Melissa Breen became Australia's fastest ever woman when she clocked 11.11sec. earlier this month.
Pearson, who boasts a personal best of 11.14sec., said it would be incredible if an Australian woman ever broke the 11-second barrier.
"It would show the world that our sprinting genes are just as good as anyone else's in the world," Pearson said.
"It would mean a great deal, and I hope I'm the first one to do it.
"It's nice to have that friendly rivalry with Melissa and hopefully we can keep pushing each other for the next few years and see if we can go under that 11-second barrier."
Pearson was plagued by hamstring issues last year, but a new technique has helped her get on top of her injury woes.
She's keen to put in a strong performance in Perth before turning her attention to next month's World Indoor Championships.
Dual Olympic gold medallist Felix Sanchez (400m hurdles) and 400m world champion LaShawn Merritt will also compete in Perth.
