World and previous Olympic victor high hurdler Sally Pearson, Australia's best Australia's most successful track athlete of her generation, gave up on her bid for a swansong at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and retired on Tuesday.
The Queenslander, who won Olympic 100 meters hurdles gold at the 2012 London Games and the world title in 2011 and 2017, surrendered to the series of wounds that have cursed her profession in recent years.
Only one year from the 2020 Tokyo Games, Australian Olympic gold medal hurdler Sally Pearson has declared that she will leave the track.
Having recently fought different hamstring and Achilles wounds, the 32-year-old took to social media to break the news.
"I am here to let you all know that I have decided to retire from my sport of athletics," she said on Tuesday.
"It has been a long 16 years, but also a fun and exciting 16 years. (But) it has come to the point where I believe my body won't be able to cope with the demands and intensity of training and competition."
Bringing home gold at the 2012 London Olympics for the 100-meter leaps, the Gold Coast native additionally won a silver medal at the 2008 Games in Beijing.
With a further two gold medals and one silver at World Championship meets, Pearson was accepted into Australia's Sports Hall of Fame in 2012 as an acknowledgment of her athletic accomplishments.
In spite of the fact that it's not clear what Pearson's next vocation way will be, she has expressed in the past that she may hope to move into a coaching role.
"I will definitely look into it. I have coached a few younger kids… and I have enjoyed it," she said.
"For me, coaching myself has been a wonderful journey and I want to continue that in the near future."
