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An English mother, yet another top athelete to slip through the net,surely we could have robbed her like we have with so many before

No doubt Pearson is a sensational athlete, but it's quite difficult to believe that anyone facing 10 barriers can be the the strongest favourite. Her margin for error is tiny!

David Radisha might have something to say about the strongest favourite in track and field! Also as 1wswilliams says, any event with 10 barriers makes thing a little closer.

Pearson is outstanding and as much a breath of fresh air as Bolt has been. Can't wait to see them all!

Usain Bolt did win World Championships gold last year. In fact he won two: 200m and 4x100m relay.

does anyone watch the olympics other than the 100 metre mens final,i know this would probably sound bad but i watch sports to see who is the best not the best and the 1000th best,of course im talking men and womens sport.look at tennis would the world no1 man lose to the world no1 ranked women?.football,olympic sports is exactly the same the womens complete those sports at a much lower level of skill and quality.i know it isnt the pc thing to say but that is why 99.9% of the population of the world dont watch womens sport,or even prepared to pay to watch it

adrenileenepotaoto - yes. I wil lwatch large chunks of the Olympics, once I get past my distaste at all the commercial stuff going on around the outside. As for Tennis - I rarely watch men's tennis as I find the big hitters boring to watch. Give me the doubles any day of the week :)

Nice article, but "the hottest favourite?" Surely Valerie Adams (women's shot put). Baring injury - apparently unbeatable.

Spot on jigsawnz, Valerie Adams is the one to watch, not only for her superb skills, but with a personality to hold the Olympic stadium in the palm of her golden hand....

Valerie Adams dead Cert. And in other Kiwi top favourites news, Murray and Bond in the Mens pairs rowing is a banker. No one beaten them in years, so much so GB conceeded their pair into the 4, a good tacticial decision and proves the power of the NZ pair.

adrenileenepotaoto - I agree with your thoughts regarding woman's sport, why would someone pay to watch athletes with less ability than the men, might as well just be watching amateur sport. I also have the same opinion about the paralympics, while I admire their tenacity and spirit does that make it a good spectator sport?

5 and 11 - very harsh!! Just because they're not as fast/strong etc. as the elite men it doesn't mean their ability (comapred to other women), skill and competitiveness is at all lower. If you don't want to watch fair enough, but plenty of others will. Oh, and AmazonTreeFrog, isn't the whole point of the Olympics meant to be about amateur sport?! I might be watching the football at Wembley but that's for the atmosphere and being a part of London 2012. I'd rather watch the Olympic athletics, swimming etc. on TV than Olympic footie, that's for sure.
Anyway there are lots of 'hot' favourites about but they still have to compete at the very top of their form to win an Olympic title, and injury/illness can scupper 4 years of hard work and success. Because of that, I'm not sure there's even such a thing as a hot favourite at the Olympics.

'Journalism' at its most imprecise. Usain Bolt won world championship gold in the 200m and relay.

"I asked Sally about the added random factor of hurdles, and specifically at the Olympics - Gail Devers in '92, Lolo Jones in 2008. Her reply? "Who cares? That's in the past. London's in the future.""

Wow, that is amazingly complacent. I'm farily sure people didn't trip over hurdles because it was prior to 2010. That these things have happened in the past matters little, they remain relevant. Devers was an abosulte certainty to win in '92, far and away the best sprint hurdler in the world. One hit hurdle and she finishes 5th. As someone once said "Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it"
Or maybe it is cognitive dissonance, as she knows that no-one can fully expect to win given the nature of her event, but would rather not dwell on uncertainties that she cannot possibly control.

"why would someone pay to watch athletes with less ability than the men, might as well just be watching amateur sport."

Am I reading this correctly? I can't believe how disrespectful some of these comments are towards female athletes! And how can anyone rule out a world champion like Sally Pearson just because of the barriers that face her? Ridiculous. As for the comment about "slipping through the net", Sally Pearson was never English, born in Sydney and raised in Australia. Why would she consider representing England?

I for one am excited by the men's and women's heats on the track. Both have enormous abilities and will be quite the spectacle. Question, would you be so negative if she was English and representing the nation? Probably not.

Why are people banging on about Bolt winning the 200m and relay golds?
It's quite clear the article is referencing the 100m and if you don't understand that then you are well, stupid.

5 and 11 : that is a weak line of reasoning. I will use a footie example. It is similar to saying one should only watch the UEFA champions league and not watch the EPL or La Liga because the champions league is the pinnacle of football.
There are many good reasons for watching top women's athletics.

@ 5 and 11:
does anyone watch sport other than the grand national (horse racing) final,i know this would probably sound bad but i watch sports to see who is the best not the best and the 1000th best,of course im talking humans and other mammals sport.look at sprints, would the world no1 horse lose to the world no1 ranked human (Bolt)?. Humans compete those sports at a much lower level of skill and quality.i know it isnt the pc thing to say but that is why 99.9% of the mammal population of the world dont watch humans sport,or even prepared to pay to watch it

I agree with your thoughts regarding human's sport, why would someone pay to watch athletes with less ability than the horses, might as well just be watching amateur sport. I also have the same opinion about the dog-racing, while I admire their tenacity and spirit does that make it a good spectator sport?

P.S. if u think the above sounds silly, thats probably how both your responses sound. never mind the fact that it is called "MEN's" 100m final and "WOMEN's" 100m final (emphasis on the MEN/WOMEN)!

rdleaper - You're right the olympics are meant to be amateur but don't kid yourself, the vast majority of these athletes are anything but. They might not be paid professionals in the true sense but with sponsorship and funding it virtually is a profession.

I'll stand by my original point about woman's sport, some might want to waste their money watching second rate sport but i'll stick with my viewing preferences. If woman's sport had the same appeal it would have an equal share of television time, newspaper columns etc.

@17

Thabo you're right , there are plenty of good reasons to watch women's athletics, wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more!

Sally Pearson is excellent physically and technically, which is the most crucial part. In an event where speed is important, it is actually the technical capabilities that will determine a lot of results. If only they made the women's barriers a little higher, because not many hurdles get knocked over as they are too easy to clear, unlike in the mens 110m high hurdles.

Regarding the issue of women's athletics, of course, if you were to go down the elite sport route, no women's sport would ever be shown, bar maybe something like equestrian. But, we must accept that women are equal in society. Mustn't we?

Jokes blood.

Now that you have done the obligatory ´óÏó´«Ã½ article on some foreigner no one much cares about I trust that you will balance the ledger for the GB readership with an article on her rival local British lass Tiffany Porter

Re: AmazonTreeFrog & adrenilenepotato and Women's and paralympics.
Do so agree! I NEVER bother to watch those lesser best sports events. Only watch heavyweight boxing never the lower divisions, same for wrestling and weightlifting and ignore those second grade football matches such as the Europa League and the English Championship. Never could understand people getting excited when an Ann Packer or Kelly Holmes beat just other women, seems so pointless. I found out recently that greyhounds run faster than Usain Bolt, so I think I won't bother with watching him either.
Of course I like sport, but only the best.

@ maninasuitecase Who cares where she's from? Athletics should be about the individual breaking records. Why don't you put yourself in a suitcase and get thrown from a bridge.

And as for that dull, waste of time, feeble, Women's Word Cup final between Japan and the USA, what can I say?

And all for what? A piece of perishable metal.

Worldly, passing vanity. Transient and worthless when all is said and done. It can be gone in a heartbeat.

I think Pearson is amazing and I love her confidence.

However, one of those barriers cost her a race after Daegu!!!

Agreed, she WAS the dominant lady in this event last season and INDOOR earlier.this year.However what is her present condition? The recent times as she implied are not to close " her PB" performances. Her Receding hairline+ increased muscularity CAUSED BY ???

22. @Bigotboy, It's always great to hear someone speak for everyone else. I for one don't care about where an athlete is from, I want to see great performances. I certainly hope you posted that comment on all Usain Bolt's articles coz hes not British as well. As for Tiffany Porter she's actually American who runs for GB beacuse she couldn't get in the US team in 08, the only thing British is probably that wig she wears.

@ 5 & 11,Poor arguements.To say that 99.9% of the worlds population only want to watch Male athletes is stupid at best.The world is largely 50% male and 50% female,I'm pretty sure that a lot more than 0.1% of the female population will be watching womens athletics.Taking tennis as an example as you did,the centre court at Wimbledon is full for both the Men and Womens finals.Men and Women are equally represented in the crowds for both events.
To make a comment about the paralympics is truly pathetic,lots of disabled people would aspire to be in the paralympics,and to them seeing someone disabled being able to compete despite their condition,it must be truly uplifting,and it must give them hope,that they might lead fuller lives.Shame on @ 11.

Pearson is a quality athlete, she should win if her form is good. But I am a little bit disturbed by the talk of the records being dubious.
Pearson is only 0.07 behind the world record, is it such a stretch that someone could produce that in the late 80's? I think it has more to do with where these athletes came from rather than the quality of the record.
It is not nearly so dubious as Flo-Jo's 100m record, a time that a drugged up Marion Jones could get nowhere near. Yet there is little question of debate of this record, at least on the ´óÏó´«Ã½.

@ 11 etc

Women's sport is worthless is 'not a PC thing to say' ??

Rather depends where you hang out.

In most places, no, I guess it's not, but if you're out for the evening in Ye Olde Knucklehead Arms - chatting with the regulars - then it's as PC as it comes. It's more or less de rigueur.

@12 & 17

The Olympics are not supposed to be for amateur athletes. The Modern Olympics were originally made to be amateur so that the rich upper class gentlemen athletes could keep the lower classes out, as the lower classes could not afford to compete in sport unless they were getting paid as they had to spend the majority of their time working. Those of the lower classes who did earn money through sport, such as boxers, were then kept out of the Olympics as the gentlemen did not want to be beaten by them. Thankfully in the 80's the amateur ruling was finally overturned so that the greatest at their sports were able to compete at the greatest sporting event on a level playing field.
However the Olympics should be the sporting high for any althlete competing. If there is an event more important to the athlets (such as Wimbledon, or the football World Cup), then in my opinion these sports should not be at the Olympics.

Tom,

For the sake of consistency, why not write joblessness, economic situation, poverty in UK also as you did for India during the CWG rather than focusing on the event itself? I guess the glasses that you wear now have changed!

22 @Bigotboy what you obviously don't know is that the ´óÏó´«Ã½ service is International, paid by advertising in overseas countries. There are actually two different services : one for the UK, and one outside of it (based on user location).
This article is one of those that feature on both sites.

As an Aussie (actually born in the UK) I absolutely loved reading this article - Good on you Sally! Thanks Tom

I pity the fools that slag off women's athletics for no good reason other than their mean-minded mysoginist views. I would love to see you all on the track against these women who would blow you poor boys away over any distance from 60m to 42km...

I for one was blown away watching Kelly Holmes, Sally Gunnell... even though they are not Aussies. They prove that top level sport is first and foremost a MIND GAME

As a queenslander, i love watching Sally win her races but i think everyones eyes will be on the most dominate athlete on the planet in Usain Bolt. Sally still hasn't beaten the times set by the 80s druglords but Bolt has. If memory serves me correctly, the 1st 5 runners in the famous race in which Ben Johnson was disqualified,all eventually got exposed as drug cheats and the time that Johnson set in that race can be beaten by Bolt in a canter. As for the comment about women athletes being boring to watch, the guy obviously hasn't seen beach volleyball.To all you brits , make sure you go and see the torch relay.i went and saw it in outback queensland and it really gives you a feeling that you are witnessing something extra-ordinary.