Australian Olympic hurdles champion Sally Pearson has torn a hamstring during training, reports said Wednesday, casting doubt over whether she will compete at Rio.
Pearson, Australia’s top athlete who won 100 metres hurdles gold at London in 2012, picked up the injury while training on the country’s Gold Coast, News Corporation newspapers reported.
The reports said she would miss Rio but the Australian Olympic Committee had no immediate confirmation and Athletics Australia (AA) tweeted only that Pearson “will be made available to the media” on Thursday.
An AA spokesman said there would be no further comment ahead of Pearson’s press conference.
The 29-year-old only returned to competition in June after spending a year on the sidelines following a fall that shattered her wrist.
But her return did not go to plan with Pearson trailing in after pacesetting Americans in three races in Europe.
Earlier, this month she pulled out of her last scheduled race to return home to her Gold Coast base and focus on training to be in shape for Rio.
Pearson, who also won hurdles silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was world champion at the 2011 Daegu World Championships, is the Australian track and field team captain.
