Sally Pearson is confident she can take gold at the Olympics, despite losing to Kellie Wells in the 100m sprint at the London Grand Prix.
Pearson, who won silver in Beijing in 2008, is 'quietly confident' she can add Olympic gold to her world championship medal.
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Defeated: Sally Pearson (centre) was beaten at the London Grand Prix
'Everyone thinks about my silver medal at Beijing, but you have to remember that I won the world championships last year, the Commonwealth Games before that and won a world indoor title this year,' Pearson said.
'So I am already one step ahead of where I should be in my career.'
Until the London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace, Pearson hadn't lost a race in 2012 and had only lost in one of her previous 33 starts in the 100 metre hurdles.
Her coach blamed a slip and fall in wet conditions in a warmup for making Pearson a little nervous before the final at Crystal Palace, where she finished second to the American Wells.
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Season's best: Pearson posted a season-leading run in Paris earlier this year
Pearson, who was reluctant to comment after her defeat in London, was back in talking mood on Thursday.
'I'm still a bit disappointed, but it just shows me that I am only human,' Pearson said of the Grand Prix defeat.
'That these girls only beat me while I was not at my best, but when I am on fire they can't come near me.'
The history of the Olympic women's sprint hurdles is littered with stories of beaten favorites, a fact Pearson is only too aware of.
She was trailing favorite Lolo Jones in the final in Beijing when the American hit the penultimate hurdle, lost her balance and slipped from first to seventh. Dawn Harper instead took gold.
Victory dance: Wells will hope to replicate her victory at the Olympics
In one of the more spectacular tumbles in the Olympic event, Gail Devers was clearly leading in 1992 when she hit the last hurdle and stumbled over the line in fifth place - narrowly missing a chance for a 100 sprint and hurdles double.The hiccup at Crystal Palace was considered to be a reality check for Pearson in the Australian media.
Sharon Hannon, who has been coaching Pearson since 1999, was dejected after the defeat.
'I'm probably as disappointed as Sally is and she's pretty gutted,' Hannon said after the Crystal Palace loss, which came only a week after Pearson posted a season-leading time of 12.40 seconds in the Diamond League meet in Paris.
'Today wasn't ideal but she's had a great year. Everything we have done all year, anything that we have measured has been better than previous years, so I'm really quite confident she's going to be fine.'
The 100 metre hurdles world record has stood since 1988, when Yordanka Donkova of Bulgaria ran 12.21.
Pearson's world championship-winning time of 12.28 in Daegu last September was the fastest time in almost 20 years.
And that came amid a run of 19 consecutive race wins before stumbling over a hurdle in her last race of the year in Brussels.
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Golden girl: Pearson (centre) remains favourite to take gold
But although a world record would be nice, Hannon and Pearson are only out for one thing in London: a gold medal.
'We are preparing to win gold in the 100 hurdles at the London Olympics. Will the winning time matter? No,' Hannon said.
'What really matters is crossing the finish line first. It is our intention for Sally to cross the line first in the heats on August 6, and again in the semi-finals and finals on August 7. `Project Gold' is about all three races.'
'I am not going out there to get silver - I am out there to get gold,' Pearson added. 'I can't guarantee that I will win but I can guarantee I will put (everything) into every race.
'I was confident at the world championships, so why not be quietly confident this time around?'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-2175799/London-2012-Olympics-Sally-Pearson-confident-gold.html#ixzz218CR2XxU
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