A year and a day after breaking her left wrist having crashed to the track in Rome, Sally Pearson will make her long-awaited competitive return at the Diamond League meet in Birmingham on June 5.
The campaign for a second straight Olympic 100m hurdles crown will be on in earnest.
After recovering from the serious wrist injury, Pearson also battled a troublesome Achilles complaint which ruled her out of the Australian domestic summer season.
Now back to full fitness, the 29-year-old will complete a time trial at her Gold Coast base before heading to Europe.
She plans to contest five Diamond League meets in Europe - separated by a stint back in Queensland - before checking into the Australian pre-Olympics training camp in Florida in late July.
American Kendra Harrison has set the standard early in 2016, holding the top three 100m hurdles times of the year including a slick 12.36 seconds in early April.
The pace could well be even quicker in the Diamond League series and at the US Olympic trials in early July.
But Pearson remains confident she can successfully overcome a year on the sidelines to claim a second straight Olympic gold medal in Rio, having fought back from hamstring injuries in 2013 and 2014 to claim world championships silver and Commonwealth gold.
"It proves I can do it, no matter what the build-up has been like into a major championships and that's why I have that belief in myself," Pearson said at last month's Olympic uniform launch in Sydney.
"I know how to race and I love the big stage.
"I thrive on the excitement and the adrenaline that the crowd gives you."
Pearson set her PB of 12.28 to win gold at the 2011 world titles in Daegu, South Korea.
World championships long jump silver medallist Fabrice Lapierre will also be a member of the strong Australian contingent at the Diamond League meet in Birmingham.
Ryan Gregson will hope to have the Olympic 1500m qualifier of three minutes 36.20 seconds locked away by then, having tumbled to the track in his most recent outing in Qatar earlier this month.
Gregson's next crack at the metric mile will in Rabat, Morocco on May 22.
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