Sally Pearson keen to wind back the clock

Olympic champion Sally Pearson will be back in action at the Perth Track Classic as she begins her Commonwealth Games preparations.

Australia's Sally Pearson clears a hurdle.

Champion hurdler Sally Pearson will begin her Commonwealth Games preparations at the Perth Classic. (AAP)

Olympic champion Sally Pearson hopes a tweak in her hurdling technique will boost her chances of giving her personal best time a nudge this year.

Pearson produced one of the most-memorable comeback stories last year when she overcame a horror run of injuries to win the 100m hurdles at the London World Championships with a time of 12.59.

The 31-year-old's personal best still stands at 12.28 - a time she achieved in 2011.

And despite entering the twilight of her decorated career, Pearson hasn't given up hope of running close to that time again.

"I've been working a lot with my technique over the hurdles," Pearson said on Thursday.

"I guess it's not major improvements - it's just tweaking a few little things.

"My best time is 12.28. I did that in 2011. It could be this year or next year, I'd like to go close to those times again.

"It's just a matter of where we can fine tune those areas to get my speed back again."

Pearson will begin her Commonwealth Games preparations on Saturday night when she races at the Perth Track Classic.

The two-time world champion is hoping for a time of around 12.70 or 12.80 seconds.

Pearson confirmed she was unlikely to run in the 100m flat at the Commonwealth Games, but would put her hand up for the women's 4x100m relay team if Australia secured a spot.

The Australian's time as a force in the 100m hurdles appeared to be over after enduring a string of serious injuries.

A horror broken wrist in 2015 was followed by a hamstring tear in 2016 that ruled her out of the Rio Olympic Games.

She was also plagued by calf and achilles issues.

"Injuries are hard. They are things that athletes fear every single year," Pearson said.

"So it can get dark. It can get miserable. It's just a matter of allowing yourself to go through that and getting through that period where you can be a bit upset.

"You allow yourself to cry, and you allow yourself to be really down. But it's just a matter of moving forward from that."


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Source: AAP



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