LONDON -- Australian Sally Pearson set a new Olympic record of 12.35 to win gold in the women's 100 meter final on Tuesday night and then said she had been inspired to success by an iconic Aussie runner.
"It's been a dream of mine for 12 years since I watched Cathy Freeman take gold in Sydney," said Pearson after her win.
Freeman was the heroine and the Symbol of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney after she won the 400 meters, when Pearson was on the point of celebrating her 14th birthday, Pearson took silver four years ago in Beijing and now has gone one step better.
"It's a dream. Relief was the first thing I felt and then shock. I'm just going through the emotions. I really wanted this. I've worked so hard for two years. To see my name on the scoreboard, I just can't believe it,"
Pearson finished two-hundreths of a second ahead of Dawn Harper, who had beaten in Beijing. This time it was Harper who took silver while Kellie Wells claimed bronze
"I didn't realize how close Dawn was until the end. I said in my head, 'please don't let this happen, I need this," said Pearson, who had been beaten by Wells in an event in Crystal Palace only days before the start of the Olympics.
"It was a bad race not to win, but it made me realize that these girls are really after me," she added
The rain fell in buckets as the runners lined up on the blocks but Pearson, who had been pre-race favorite got off to a flying start with Harper and Wells close behind.
Harper went into the race as the defending Olympic Champion and with her confidence high after running a personal best of 12.46 in her semi-final earlier in the evening, but it was Wells who was Pearson's closest pursuer in the opening meters of the race.
Harper then found an extra turn of speed and was closing on the Australian, but Pearson times her dip to the line to perfection. She had run 12.39, the fastest time of the year to date in her semi and she went even faster to claim gold. She needed to, but that run saw her swap Beijing silver for London gold.
"I'm happy to win a sliver. There was so much pressure on me. I'm just so happy to be here. I wanted to be here and I wanted to be a part of it," she said.
There was an agonizing wait until the result was confirmed, but when it was Pearson threw herself to the floor in ecstasy. It was Australia's first track and field gold of these Games.
And she already knew how side was going to celebrate: "I just want to have a cheeseburger," said Pearson.
