Pearson declares assault on world record

The 2012 Olympic champion in the 100 metres hurdles, Australian sprinter Sally Pearson declared an all-out assault on the world 100m hurdles record on Thursday.

Pearson, 26, was in Melbourne to receive the Athletics Australia female athlete of the year award, alongside male winner Mitchell Watt.

Pearson completed the trifecta when she added the Olympic gold medal at the London Olympics to the world championship and Commonwealth golds she had already won in the 100m hurdles.

She won the Olympic race with considerable back pain, acondition that will prevent her competing over the hurdles in January and February in Australia. She is confident her back will improve, allowing her to have a real crack at the record of 12.21sec set by Bulgaria's Yordanka Donkova in 1988. Pearson ran a personal best of 12.28sec in 2011 before clocking 12.35sec in winning at London.

"I was in 12.1sec shape leading into this season, but my back then started to hurt," Pearson said.