World champion Sally Pearson clocked her fastest 100m hurdles time in Australia while John Steffensen backed up his outspoken ways with another 400m victory at the Sydney Track classic on Saturday night.
Pearson improved on her time at last week’s Perth meet, clocking 12.66 seconds to storm to victory, despite knocking over the final hurdle at Sydney Olympic Park.
The 25-year-old clocked 12.86 in Perth after clipping the sixth hurdle and while she admitted she needed to clean up her racing, she was pleased with only her second hit-out since crashing out in the Diamond League final in Brussels last September.
“I’ve got to stop hitting hurdles,” Pearson said.
Pearson later backed up to win the 200m in an Olympic qualifying time of 23.06, but was disappointed after targeting her first sub 23-second run.
Pearson’s hurdles time was her quickest ever on Australian soil and comparable to some of her late-season races in Europe last year, showing her London Olympic prospects are looking bright.
“Tonight’s been a really fantastic night,” Pearson said.
“Running 12.66 in the hurdles, that’s a world class time.
“I ran it for my second last race of the season last year and now I’ve run it for my second race of the year. It’s pretty exciting.”
Steffensen backed up his narrow 400m victory in Perth to take to win Saturday’s race in 45.61, ahead of Kenyan 800m world record holder David Rushida (45.82) and Ben Offereins (46.09).
The win capped an eventful week for Steffensen, who drew criticism, including from Pearson, for boasting after his win in Perth: “It was a murder scene out there, the way I murdered their little boys. Someone should call 000. It was a crime scene.”
Steffensen was slightly more reserved in a post-race television interview on Saturday before blanking print media.
“Anyone who faces the criticism I’ve had to face and still has to come out and run is a champion,” said Steffensen, whose time was still shy of the 45.30 Olympic qualifying time.
“Like Ricky Ponting said, you can’t stop a great man at work.”
Lauren Boden produced one of the performances of the night in running her first Olympic qualifying time when she won the 400m hurdles in 55.45 seconds.
“London, here I come,” the 24-year-old said.
A foot injury ruled Jana Pittman out of the event.
Former discus world champion Dani Samuels was left frustrated after throwing a below-par 60.68m to finish second behind American Olympic Champion Stephanie Brown Trafton (63.23)
Tamsin Manou (nee Lewis) produced a confidence-building 2:01.53 to win the 800m as she continues to build her fitness after recovering from last November’s calf tear.
Henry Frayne also produced an Olympic qualifier and a huge PB in winning the men’s long jump with 8.27m.
