SYDNEY: Australian Olympic hurdles champion Sally Pearson said Tuesday 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.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2016