Champion hurdler Sally Pearson has made a last-minute decision to squeeze another race into her pre-Commonwealth Games schedule, worried about her fitness for Glasgow.
Pearson, who tweaked her hamstring in early June, is already set to race at a meet in Switzerland on Tuesday, but will now back-up again for another 100-metre hurdles burst at the Anniversary Games meet in London on Sunday July 20.
Nine days later, the reigning Olympic and Commonwealth gold medalist will attempt to defend her crown in Glasgow.
Pearson has been out of sorts since slowly working her way back from the injury she suffered at the start of the European summer.
However, Pearson says she's confident winning the hurdles in Glasgow is still "a very realistic goal".
Pearson struggled with a time of 13.19 in her first outing after damaging her hamstring in Belgium two and a half weeks ago.
She improved on that at the Diamond League meet in Paris in early July but still faded to sixth in a time of 12.89.
At another Diamond League event at the weekend in Glasgow, Pearson continued to shave her times by coming third in 12.87 - but admitted she wished the Commonwealth Games were a month away rather than two weeks.
Pearson clearly feels underdone and has reacted by booking in another race - albeit a low-key affair in London - meaning she'll arrive late to Australia's team camp in Gateshead, England.
"This will provide me with another race that can help in my race practice before Glasgow," she wrote on her blog.
"I have been doing a lot of specific hurdling work to get back into shape with the main aim of winning the Commonwealth Games, which I think is a very realistic goal.
"The rehab process is obviously very slow going, your head wants to do it and is trying to tell you to do it but your body is saying, 'slow down we can't push it if you want to race the rest of the season'.
"I have worked very hard to get back to where I am in a short space of time."
Pearson revealed there were "a lot of tears" after she ran the 13.19 in Belgium, but that it allowed her to get it out of her system before the bigger Diamond League events.
The 27-year-old was disappointed she didn't run faster at Glasgow but is remaining positive that her preparation remains on track.
Pearson says she'll wait until the last minute to decide whether she'll also contest the 100 metres flat at the Commonwealth Games.
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