Sally Pearson Interview
Another massive interview coming your way today as we sit down with the legendary two-time Olympic medallist Sally Pearson to learn more about her amazing athletics career. We find out from Sally just what made her switch to hurdles at a young age and why it wasn't an event that she took seriously for a few years into her hurdling career. We also find out more about THAT interview from the Beijing Olympics, and why all the pressure leading into London helped her to win that famous gold medal. Added to this we find out just how she feels she would've gone had she competed in both Rio & Tokyo, and just what other Olympic sport we might have a chance at seeing her compete in one day. It's an incredible chat that you will not want to miss, so tune in and get pumped!
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Please note this is an automated transcript that may contain errors.
BEN WATERWORTH: It is Off The Podium, an Olympics podcast coming to you today for another amazing interview, another massive interview. You saw Mac Horton was big last week. We've got somebody probably even bigger this week. Sally Pearson, a legendary Australian hurdler for those outside of Australia who may not be too familiar with Sally. Olympic gold medallist from London in the 100-metre hurdles. Olympic silver medallist from Beijing in the 100-metre hurdles. A two-time world champion ad to her glittering career. And this is a fantastic chat with Sally. Really personal, in-depth chat to just go over everything in her career. An amazing career about how she got into the sport, why hurdles wasn't necessarily something that she really liked too much when she first did it, right through to just how close she came to coming out of retirement for the Tokyo Olympics, as well as talking about a potential another Olympic sport that we may see her in one day. It's very fascinating, very exciting, and a great chat that you are going to love. Here is our chat with two-time Olympian and Olympic champion Sally Pearson.
BEN WATERWORTH: Such an honour to be able to welcome our next guest today here to Off The Podium, a two-time Olympian, Olympic gold medallist, silver medallist, three-time world championship medal winning, including two gold medals, Commonwealth Games, a triple medallist, and basically one of the greatest athletes we've ever produced in the sport of athletics. It's a pleasure to welcome to Off The Podium, the one, the only Sally Pearson. Sally, it's a pleasure to have you on the show today. Thank you for joining us on Off The Podium.
SALLY PEARSON: Thanks for the introduction. Sometimes you forget how many achievements you've got. And I haven't been interviewed for a while, so I haven't been reminded of it for a while.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, I mean, I can go through everything if you want. I mean, you know, just really remind you. Because, I mean, it must be one of those things though, that obviously as you tick things off the list and kind of do achieve these things, that maybe it is nice to just kind of reflect on that journey that is taking you through to so many great achievements in your career.
SALLY PEARSON: Oh, yeah, certainly. And so many people say, you know, take time to reflect on what you've done. It's been so amazing. And I'm just telling me this while I was still an athlete. I'm like, hell, no, I'm too busy racing right now. The sport moves on. You don't have time to sit down and and reflect. But obviously, when you retire, then you realise, hang on a second, had a pretty good career. I'm very satisfied with what I've done.
BEN WATERWORTH: For sure. I always love speaking to guests on the show from sports, which I always like to consider as a bit odd in the fact that it's not something that I feel a lot of people wake up dreaming to, I guess, sprint over pieces of wood, essentially. And obviously, I want to I'm not I don't want to use the word jumping because I watched an interview with you in the lead up to this. And you specifically said it's kind of offensive to say to a hurdler that you jump over a hurdler, you're running over it. So I wanted to point that out. But I believe you were 13 when it was introduced to you. When what was do you remember kind of when your coach came to you and said, you should try hurdles and what your initial thought process was when they said that to you?
SALLY PEARSON: Yeah, my initial thought process was hell no. I don't think so. But I did do 200 metre hurdles. But I think I had more space in between to not jump over the hurdles. So yeah, no, I like the longer hurdles at the time. I started doing sprint hurdles at 13, 14 years of age and just hit them all the time, fell over so many times. And I'm like, what the hell am I doing this for? Who wants to do this? But for some reason, I was very good at doing what I was told. So my coach said, OK, hurdles next week. And I was like, all right, then if I have to. But I wasn't like enthusiastic about it because I was very much 100, 200 high jump long jumper. They're the events that I wanted to do. That's where I saw myself. I had fun doing those and hurdles was just, oh, yeah, you did it at Little Athletics and blah, blah, blah. And then the coach says, do you want to train for it? So it's a whole other ball game again. And then I went to my first national championships, high school national championship, sorry, in I think it was 2000 in Adelaide. And it was a 90 metre hurdles final. So I'd made I'd made the national final. And I don't know, something went really bad at the start. I went over on the wrong leg and I had to do like different strides in between gets back to my other leg again. And then it just went downhill from there and halfway through, I fell over. My kind of national level introduction to hurdles. And I'm like, never again. This is just stupid. Why don't this one in a straight line, flat straight line is so much easier.
BEN WATERWORTH: Wow. And do you ever find when you're, I guess, coming across younger athletes who are trying to find their niche when it comes to track and field? Are there legitimately athletes who go, I want to be a hurdler. This is the one I want to do. Or is it always that one that is kind of offered to you at some point? Okay, I'll see how I go with that.
SALLY PEARSON: Oh, there's definitely a lot of athletes come to me and say, I want to be a hurdler. This is what I want to do. And they're 10 or 11 years old, I'm like, just chill out for a minute. Like I wasn't even training at that age. So you just take it. It's only because they see these people and they're at the Olympics and they're winning and they're doing this odd event. It's like, oh, I'm going to go give it a go. And that's what I want to be. And that's great. And it's nice to be that role model for them and inspire them to at least be in the sport. But, you know, going to that international level, that senior level takes a lot of time. And if you start out young, sometimes you either burn out if you're training too hard because they're all excited and they're all enthusiastic and motivated to do it. So by the time they get to their late to late to mid teens, it's all over for them, they're sick of it. So I try and just like hold them back a little bit. And so you got plenty of time, you can be like 35 and still running at the Olympics if you want to, because you got 25 years left in this sport. Kid, just chill, it's all right. That doesn't obviously, I can't comprehend that at all, because for a 10 year old, that's just a lifetime away. But it goes by so quickly. So I just try and hold them back a little bit and say, go and try some other sports even, get some strength in gymnastics or get some hand and eye coordination in tennis, all those sort of things, because this sport does take a lot of you. And I probably didn't start taking it seriously till I was 16, 17 years of age. So yeah, it's a good sport to be a part of, but it certainly it takes all of you to be a part of it if you want to be the best.
BEN WATERWORTH: I always like hearing those little bits where you say you can still be an Olympian, you know, going towards 35. I'm about to turn 35, Sally, so I'm still with you.
SALLY PEARSON: You've got all the time in the world.
BEN WATERWORTH: Absolutely. Yeah, I will. As soon as I'm done this, I'm going there and I'm running. Growing up, though, outside of athletics, you were involved in gymnastics, you did some swimming. I mean, was this something that, as a child, the Olympics was always a goal, and you were trying to find, I guess, a sport that kind of complemented that, or was it kind of the Olympics became a goal once you progressed further in some of these sports?
SALLY PEARSON: Yeah, I think that's a really good question, and I have been asked about it before, but I wasn't necessarily going to the Olympics. I remember specifically, I think I was six or seven years old at gymnastics. We were in the elite squad in the gymnastics at that age as well, and our coach set us down, and she was talking about that show when we were younger, The Gladiators. So we were like, that was right up our alley, that sort of show for kids doing gymnastics at the elite level was right up our alley. And she just said, look, you guys are so much better than these gladiators. You could be on that show and be doing that. And I'm like, yeah, we could be doing that. Because at that time, at that age, that was the ultimate sports person. So if you want to be a gladiator, you're going to be the best. So that's how I was born. I just wanted to be the best. The Olympics at that age never really crossed my mind. I knew that it was around, but I probably didn't really know about the Olympics until the Sydney Olympics, I suppose, like a lot of other kids our age saw the Olympics at that age and thought, oh, yeah, this is what the Olympics is. OK, I get it now. But it certainly wasn't like a concrete goal that I was after. I just wanted to be the best at whatever that was that I was going to be doing.
BEN WATERWORTH: And, of course, stories you've told plenty of times about seeing Cathy win, of course, in Sydney. I mean, was that what made you, I guess, at that point go, OK, athletics is for me, this is what I want to focus on? Were you still sort of involved in other sports at that time and kind of that made you make a decision?
SALLY PEARSON: Well, I think the Sydney Olympics, I had not started training it or I just started training it. So I still wasn't taking it anywhere seriously enough to be thinking this is what I was going to be doing. I knew that I was good at athletics. I knew that I was fast. I'd always known that I was fast, but it was just second nature to me. I was always competitive. So anyone was like, Oh, so why didn't you think of the Olympics as your goal? And like, this is what you wanted to do. And I'm like, because it was it just came naturally to me to be an athlete and to be a sports person. So all I wanted to do was just win races. I didn't care where I was. I just wanted to win races and be the best. So the Olympics sort of didn't come around into my mind until I think I was maybe 15, 15, 16. And then I went to the World Championships, the Senior World Championships at 16. I was anchoring the four by one relay there, and I was looking around the stadium with 80,000 people there and going, Yeah, this is what I want to do. I want to be in the stadium again. I loved being in front of the crowd. I liked entertaining, I guess, because at the end of the day, we're the athletes. So you don't think of it as entertainment, but that's the entertainment, isn't it? You're going there to watch athletes compete, which means it's like going to a rock concert. You know, you're going there to see those people play, while you're going to the athletics to see the athletes compete. And that's what I liked about it as well.
BEN WATERWORTH: I love hearing that, because it's so interesting, you know, that year you had in 2003, that you do make your debut on the Senior World Champs, but you win gold at the Youth World Championships that year as well. So does that kind of relate to what you're saying before about, you started taking this seriously when you were about 16? I mean, that was obviously a pretty breakthrough year for you, that maybe things were starting to click into gear for you.
SALLY PEARSON: Yeah, it was. But it was never like, I never kept saying, I'm going to do this, and I'm going to do that, because it was almost like it was already happening. It's so hard to explain. I had absolutely no doubt in my mind that I was going to be the best. So I almost didn't need to keep saying, I want to be the next Kathy Freeman, I want to be the next so-and-so, because I didn't need to say that because I already knew I was going to do it. It's such a bizarre feeling that I can't even explain it because it is just something that I knew was going to happen without having to hope and pray that it was going to happen.
BEN WATERWORTH: So what I've always loved about hearing you talk is that it's that confidence. I kind of like to equate it almost like a boxer, that you've just got such that level about you where you're just like, I'm the best, I'm going to win. Every time you would go into a major competition, and afterwards you're like, I knew I was going to win, I know I'm going to beat these girls. I mean, is that something for you that has always helped you with your running? That confidence that adds the mental side of things to the physical side of things?
SALLY PEARSON: I think so, but I also think it comes from knowing your talent and knowing what you're capable of doing, and really believing in that. I never really second guessed myself because I suppose I never thought too deeply into what might happen. You know, like, oh, I might not win this, or I might not win that. I never really thought too deeply into that side of it because I was so believing and trusting in my own ability and the program that was set out for me. I remember way back when I was five or six again, and when gymnastics, and this is when I really knew my competitive side was there. They were so strict, but they used to make us do about ten laps of the football field at the back of the gymnastics club. And even then, me and this other redheaded girl, she was a fast runner as well. And we'd just take off. And it would just be me and her sprinting, feel like the first game is a ten-lap warm-up that we had to do. And I was just like, everything I did was a race. And then I remember also in one of those warm-ups, one of the senior girls was, she was always winning the warm-ups. She was just always fit and better than everyone. And I'm like, you know what, I'm going to get her. So I really took my warm-up seriously, and I paced myself. And I jogged a few, and she wasn't racing, but I was always racing because I wanted to be. I saw what older people would do, more experienced people would do, and I would learn off that because that's what I wanted to be. And I wanted to be better than that. So I would follow in their direction, I suppose. And then I ended up catching that girl in the last lap of the warm-up. And she's probably like three or four years older than me at the time. And the teachers are like, why did you do that? I'm like, that's what I thought we had to do.
BEN WATERWORTH: Keep going that way.
SALLY PEARSON: It just sort of came naturally to me. It wasn't something that I had to find. It was just naturally there for me.
BEN WATERWORTH: And is that something then, given it's natural, can you teach that to people? Is there a way that when you, if you're coming across younger athletes again, that you can maybe try and get that out of them to have that level of confidence?
SALLY PEARSON: It's certainly hard, and it takes a lot of time and a lot of patience to do that with athletes. A lot of athletes want to be respectful, and I guess they love their opposition. They know everything about their opposition. So it's trying to change their mindset to say, yeah, you can still be respectful, but at the end of the day, you're out there to beat them. And remember, they're out there to beat you as well. They're not going to be so respectful to you. They don't care who you are, what you've done or anything. They're there to win. So you've got to have that attitude as well. Like this is elite sport. If you want to be the best, you've got to beat the best. So sometimes it can be a little bit difficult if it doesn't come natural to people to change that mindset. And it's quite accepting to have that mindset because it can come across quite harsh and blunt and arrogant and rude. But I never felt, even people might correct me or think otherwise, but I never felt like I was trying to be disrespectful to other people, even though I'd come out and say, yeah, I'm going to win. No, these girls better be on fire because I'm ready to win this race. I wasn't saying that to be that boxer entertainer. I wasn't being there to, I guess, fire up the media or make it exciting. I was saying it because I truly believed in my ability to win those races. And I worked so hard on saying what I wanted to achieve out loud, because in Australian culture, we're always like, stay humble, stay grounded, blah, blah, blah. I mean, Nick Curious will probably be changing the sides of that. But that's what the Australian culture typically was and sometimes still is as well. So it took me a few years to be able to say out loud that that's what I wanted to do. And then once I said it, I'm like, right, this is easy. All I have to do is just say it and not worry about what anyone else thinks.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, perfect. And do you also think that helps with maybe some mind games against your competitors? Because I can imagine there is certain things you can do to put them off a little bit, to show them that like, I'm coming out to beat you, you better be ready for me.
SALLY PEARSON: It's certainly might of, but I wasn't there to do that. I never liked playing mind games intentionally because it was a waste of energy for me. I didn't like putting any spotlight on anybody else. I didn't like giving them the time of day in terms of talking about them or what they're doing or this or this or whatever. Or intentionally trying to upset them because it was just a waste of energy. Like, I don't know how boxes do that. I was like, man, I'm exhausted. Just trying to get myself up and ready to do this. This is nearly mentally fatiguing, but I know that I can do it, but I'm not going to try and put any any attention on those other people because I just I don't care right now. I'm sure it probably was a mind game in their heads. They probably thought that that's what I was trying to do, but I really wasn't.
BEN WATERWORTH: Is there much like sledging behind the scenes in hurdling? Like, I mean, kind of, do you have anybody that came up to you as like, you know, thought maybe you were saying something that was a bit distrable, things like that? I mean, kind of how does that work? Like in the locker room before you go out onto the track?
SALLY PEARSON: In the locker room, I never... So it only happened to me once, and it was very, very, very obvious to everybody that was around me. That was in 2017, when after I had just won the World Championships, and we're at the Zurich Diamond League, and one of my competitors, I don't know, we were warming up and literally warming up side by side, which is very normal, because there's not a lot of space on a warm up track usually. So you just take whatever lane you can and the hurdles that you can. But she was acting so strange, and she was dancing around, she was singing at the top of her lungs, she was just out there and being very vocal, which has never happened before. And I've never seen this particular person do that before either. And I even had a Safer Power Walk pass, and he looked at Ciaran and I, and he's just looking at us strangely going, what's going on over there? But the funny thing was, I warm up with music, and I couldn't hear any of it, because my music's loud enough that I can't hear what anyone else is doing. But I could kind of see it, but I had this new tactic at the World Championships, and afterwards that I would literally warm up and not eyeball anyone. I almost wouldn't greet them. I wouldn't talk to them. I wouldn't look at them at all in any way. I wouldn't give them the time of day, because I didn't want to soak up their energy. You're obviously aware of what's going around you, but you're not sort of taking it in too much. And my husband was aware that this is what I would do, because he was very much my biggest support that he had come to all my warm ups, all my competitions, and be right there, make sure I had the hurdles that I needed to warm up with, all the blocks and the space that I needed. So he would guard everything. And he didn't mention anything about it. We didn't even acknowledge that it was happening until after the race. I'd actually won that Zurich Diamond League as well. And after the race, I said to him, and what was going on there? And he goes, I'm so glad you said something. I'm like, oh my goodness. I wasn't taking it on. I knew that it was happening, but I wasn't taking it on. Like how this person wanted it to affect me, or how it came across that she wanted it to affect me.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, well, you beat them. So I mean, at the end of the day, whatever they were doing didn't work, right? Like it's kind of, you know, it goes that way. That's insane. You mentioned before about that buzz of the crowd, you know, that kind of that what you mentioned before, really getting involved in the show of it. 2006, the MCG, obviously the Commonwealth Games didn't exactly work out no doubt how you wanted to, but I mean, going to a Commonwealth Games at that age and also a stadium of that size, I mean, kind of what was that experience like?
SALLY PEARSON: That was the best thing ever. I've always been, as much as I probably don't seem like it, when I'm on the track competing in a big stage, I'm very much a performer. I love to be in front of the crowd. I like to be on stage. I like people to be looking at me. I kind of, that thrills me. It excites me. So when I knew that I was on the team in 2006, I was like, I can't wait to experience this 110,000 people crowd. This is my comfort zone. This is where I feel at ease and at peace as well, standing on that start line with those people there. It was just what I wanted to do. And I just, I loved every minute of it. Obviously, yeah, I fell in the final of the hurdles, 100. Probably wasn't good enough anyway to do anything better than what I did, to be fair. Yeah, then obviously getting the bronze medal in the relay at a home games was just, yeah, awesome.
BEN WATERWORTH: Did you ever compete in anything bigger than that? Were there any stadiums that you went to after that that would have had about the same or more?
SALLY PEARSON: Not 100. I don't know what London Olympics had when they...
BEN WATERWORTH: I think it was about 80, I think, off the top of my head.
SALLY PEARSON: I thought that was when they... Maybe it was 80, but yeah, probably not. Probably not 110,000, no. I think it was pretty much the same as Sydney Olympics, wasn't it? I mean, that was the biggest athletics event has ever had in Sydney with Cathy. But ours would have been not 110, but certainly off around the 90s, maybe 100.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which is kind of just insane to think that, I mean, you know, no disrespect to Commonwealth Games, they're obviously an amazing event, but obviously it's not quite an Olympics, that the crowd is still going along to that.
SALLY PEARSON: Yeah, and that's what kind of gets me a little bit disappointed with our sport, right? They say that our sport isn't exciting. They say, blah, blah, this, this and this, and we don't get the crowds. I'm like, well, we do, because Melbourne 2006 had a full crowd almost every single day, even in the morning sessions. So something's not going right, right? The marketing is not right or whatever it is, because obviously it's so that's one of the biggest selling sports at any Olympics or Commonwealth Games. And if you have a World Champs overseas, it sells out, you know, it can't do well. It's just what are we doing nationally that it's not working?
BEN WATERWORTH: Which it is fascinating because you think of an Olympics or a Commonwealth Games. What's the one event everybody wants to watch? It's the 100 metres. It's the blue ribbon event of any major competition. So it's kind of it's it's interesting that it doesn't have that, I guess, attention outside of it. 2008. No, no, please go ahead.
SALLY PEARSON: I think it would if there was more education out there for the general public to understand the sport a little bit more, because every time I've had an event on general public say to you, oh, I didn't know that was on. I'm like, yeah, well, this is this is the thing, isn't it? They don't even know that it's on.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which it is. I mean, adding to that, it is interesting because, you know, going back to Sydney with Cathy, I mean, that was the one event Australia was behind, London, you know, that was the one event everybody was behind was sort of you. So it gets that attention at these events. So it is interesting to see that, you know, you look at swimmers, for example, they're still recognised and known outside of an Olympics or Commonwealth Games. But it is interesting how that doesn't kind of equate to track and field.
SALLY PEARSON: Well, hopefully the next Olympic cycle will get a few more medals so people can remember.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yes, exactly, exactly. Push towards that. 2008, one of my favourite all time Olympic moments ever, was the interview you gave to Channel 7 directly after your... And the thing that I think was fascinating about that was that, I guess, for most Australians, we weren't overly familiar with you. And then I remember watching that race live going like, OK, cool, we've got an athlete in the finals. This is going to be fun. And then watching the silvers like, wow, this is amazing. Do you... I've read a few interviews where you say you look back on that and you go like, yeah, that was just me. That was awesome. Have you watched it? Like, is it something that kind of people sent you and go, this is amazing? And kind of just everything that came with that, I can imagine, just added to your profile and everything from that point on?
SALLY PEARSON: Yeah, of course. I mean, it's certainly something that's very special to me, that interview, because it was, as I said, no one sees that side of me usually because they don't know me outside of the sport. But I'm very much a relaxed, sort of happy-go-lucky, like, excitable person. I get excited by a lot of things. So obviously, when you win an Olympic medal, that's one of the most exciting things that can ever happen to you in your life. And so it needs a bit of more... I don't want to ruin the whole hype of that interview, but it does need explanation behind it. Because when I say, did you see me? Like the most famous part in that interview, it was because I was actually so hyped behind those starting blocks. I was actually screaming and yelling to myself and hyping myself up. I've never, ever, ever done that before in a race. When you see Jai Tarim at the longdome, he's hyping himself. I was doing that before the race. I was almost surprising myself that I was doing that. I wanted to know if anyone else saw that. That's why I said to Pat Welshman, did you see me? That's what I was saying. Did you see me? At the start of the race, I was so pumped. That's why I was trying to get over to him. But obviously, it wasn't picked up like that. But I mean, I don't want to ruin the whole the interview by explaining it because it was so magical and so raw and such an exciting time. But yeah, that's I wanted people to know that I was a different person out there on the track, a person that really believed and really knew what was going to happen. I'd never been in that situation before where I knew that something magical was going to happen tonight.
BEN WATERWORTH: I think outside of that part, two of my favourite bits of the interview as well is when Pat says to you about like, you spoke to me the other day and you said you want to get the phone, you're like, I lied to you, I knew I was going to meddle. And then the bit right at the end when you're basically going like, to everyone who sent me a Facebook message and an email, I will get back to you one day. I've got to ask 14 years later, have you? Have you gotten back to everyone back from 2008?
SALLY PEARSON: And I ended up deleting my account for a while because I was so overwhelmed by it all. I can't see this. This is too much for me, so I deleted my account for a while. And then I kind of went through it all afterwards when I reactivated again. Yeah. It was nice. And that was when I said to him, actually, I lied to you. I knew I was going to get a medal. That was right before I started saying I wanted to win. And I had that full confidence going to London. Like I was going to win this and I was going to win that. This was when I was working with my psychologist in 2008 saying, right, I don't think I'm ready to say I want to win out loud, but I certainly I know that I can or I know that I can at least medal. And I know that I can make the final, but can we just sort of take it back a step and just say, tell the tell the Australian public, look, I'm just going to make the final and then I'll see what happens afterwards. And she says, yeah, that's a good place to start. It's a good building block. But even though secretly deep down, we both knew that my goal was to medal at those Olympics, because I knew that I could.
BEN WATERWORTH: It's so fascinating kind of then what happened obviously afterwards, because the Australian public endures you after that interview, celebrating a silver medal, but just the form obviously that you went on basically between Beijing and London. I've read in interviews you said before about how, when you're on the line, the nerves kind of obviously if you're not nervous, there's a problem because that kind of there. But when it comes to something like pressure, obviously going into London, as I mentioned, kind of all of Australia was thinking, this is the one event we want to see Sally win. Do you thrive on pressure? Is that something that works to your advantage, knowing that an entire country is expecting you to come away with a gold medal?
SALLY PEARSON: Oh, yeah, that was certainly something that didn't faze me at all because I wanted exactly the same thing that the country wanted or the pressure, supposedly that was put on me, was it didn't feel like a weight on my shoulders because I was already putting that on myself anyway from what my own goals were. So it didn't faze me at all. As I said, I like, I hate to say, but when I'm competing, when I was the athlete, I liked the attention because that helped me. Obviously, outside of that, I certainly don't like to be the centre of attention, but when I was entertaining, that's what I wanted.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, well, I mean, it worked, definitely worked. But it's, I mean, it's amazingly been 10 years since London. It's crazy to kind of think that. But do you, how do you reflect on it 10 years later? Does anything change? Are you able to kind of soak in anything differently and realise certain things now that you've retired? Or is it still kind of the same? You can take yourself back to the stadium and remember all those emotions that came with winning the gold?
SALLY PEARSON: Oh, yeah, I think, yeah, I wish you could go back and do it again, knowing the result. So, like, would you change anything? Even getting the same result, would you change anything else? Like, I probably would, and I would probably try and enjoy the journey more, take advantage of the journey more. But you can't when you're in that space because you have to put your head down, bum up, because you don't know the result at the time, you know? Like, it's so hard. I wish I could go back and just kind of be a bit more relaxed with it and not so intense. But I mean, maybe that's what it was about me that did so well is because I was that little bit intense and fiery and competitive. So that maybe that's what made me so good. I don't know, but I wish I could just relax a little bit more and still perform at the highest level.
BEN WATERWORTH: Was that period when you crossed the line before the result came up on the screen, was that the longest period of your entire life just waiting for that confirmation? And you knew that whole time you'd won, right? We all did.
SALLY PEARSON: I was kind of more frustrated because I was thinking, I know they're doing this. They're doing this for the drama. They want that effect. They want that weight. It's like the movie or a soap opera thing. They finish at the real intense moment. Wait till next week.
BEN WATERWORTH: Stay tuned after this commercial. We'll be back.
SALLY PEARSON: I know what's going to happen, but tell me anyway.
BEN WATERWORTH: That's because Channel 9 had it that year. Eddie Maguire was doing the whole who wants to be a millionaire thing. That's why.
SALLY PEARSON: Yeah, well, there you go. Now we know the reason. But yeah, no, it was just more frustrating waiting for it because I just wanted to celebrate. I wanted to have that kind of realised. Even though I knew I won, I kind of still wanted to be a little bit respectful to Silva like Dawn Harper because she was so close as well at the end. I only just saw her in the last sort of 10 metres. I'm like, oh, hang on a second. She was really close. I think I've got it. I'm 99% sure I've got it. But at the same time, she seems to be kind of thinking, oh, have I won it? Have I won it? Even I think she knew she got Silva. But I kind of wanted to be a little bit respectful in that instance as well, especially because the result wasn't on the board.
BEN WATERWORTH: And it always seems like the camaraderie between you guys was incredible. Even when you're getting Silva and bronze, everyone's so happy for each other. I mean, is that a hurdler sort of aspect, or is that generally a track and field thing that we don't get to see a lot of?
SALLY PEARSON: I think it's more the fact... I don't know about other events, but certainly in hurdles, because our event is so tough competitive-wise, anyone on that start line can win. It doesn't matter. We are all very, very close in talent and abilities and in potential of winning a race. And I think if you cross that line and get a medal, you're just like, oh, I actually did it. I beat that person. They've been beating me all season or whatever, and I finally got one on the day that it counts. It's kind of like if the medallists get the other one, they're like, oh, we did it. We got what we needed to do. It's almost like a relief for all of us. And it's like, oh, thank God we got through that season. Not too bad this year. You line up on that line, you do. You can't guarantee one person who's going to win in that race.
BEN WATERWORTH: Two things I always love to find out from our medallists, particularly gold medallists on the show. First of all, the medal, and you've got two Olympic medals, of course, but is this something that's on display? Are both of them in the sock drawer? What do you do with your Olympic medals?
SALLY PEARSON: I would love to put it on display, but unfortunately it's in a safe because there's too many thieves around these days, and so many people are getting their medals stolen over the last 10, 15 years. It's not worth anything to anybody else. I don't understand why you would want, I don't know, collectors, I suppose, or just the thrill of stealing from some people. But yeah, unfortunately, it's in a safe.
BEN WATERWORTH: They get worn, though? You take them out, obviously, when you take to schools and things like that, because isn't that a badge of honour? They get a bit worn when people are touching them.
SALLY PEARSON: And it's so faded and so scratched up, and not frayed yet on the ribbon, but they must have used really cheap leather on the box because it is just falling apart. You can't even see the Olympic rings on the box. The base is still intact, and it's beautiful, made beautifully. The London one must have just been cheap leather that they used. It is so bad. And that was the only thing that happened to it as well. And the box, the case that it comes in, is all part of it as well, but you won't even know that it's an Olympic box anymore.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, that's crazy to think. I thought the Brits would put a lot more effort into that, but they cheap down there. The other one I like, as a gold medallist, you get to go on a stamp, Sally. How many of these did your friends and family end up buying? And do you randomly just have some stamps floating around the house?
SALLY PEARSON: I've still got some stamps. Yeah, it's pretty cool one day to show the kids. But yeah, I didn't even know that it was happening. And I knew beforehand, but I didn't think of it. As soon as I knew, I forgot about it straight away that that's what happens. And then when my stamp came out, I'm like, could have done my makeup a lot better. I wish I got reminded about this, so I could try a little bit harder.
BEN WATERWORTH: Which I can imagine that there's also that unique experience of like in the months afterwards, if you're getting a letter, you know, and you're going through things like, oh, there's my face just on a letter that I've just been sent.
SALLY PEARSON: Yeah, that's right. And they send you like a few like a sheet of them as well, which is nice. So yeah, they're probably still packed away somewhere.
BEN WATERWORTH: The collectors are. I think they're obviously stamp collectors, but then it's kind of that unique thing where I know people do rush out in any Olympics and kind of, okay, got to get the new gold medallist sheet, which I can't remember if they started doing, was Sydney the first one, or did they do it back in Atlanta? I can't even remember.
SALLY PEARSON: I don't know, but I think the family members of the person who's on the stamp usually make it sell out. Oh, and I get all of them.
BEN WATERWORTH: All of them. Just keep going there.
SALLY PEARSON: Family members around the world.
BEN WATERWORTH: Keeps popping up. I can imagine then, obviously, posts like London, everything, you know, the world's at your feet. And obviously, ultimately, unfortunately, Rio, Tokyo, we know ultimately didn't happen through injuries. I mean, do you sort of reflect and go, I'm satisfied with the Olympic gold and silver, or do you often sometimes think, well, what could have been had, you know, Rio happened and then ultimately Tokyo as well?
SALLY PEARSON: Well, definitely. I mean, if Rio happened, who knows if I had gone on to 2017 to win the world title again? Probably not. If I had been at Rio at my best shape and running well and won there, I probably wouldn't have gone on because my body was tired. It was wearing out very quickly. So I was very, very fortunate to be able to get over those injuries in 2016, 2017 and come back for that world title. And then unfortunately, 10 days out of the Comm Games in 2018, it was just, I remember going to the track for a training session and looking down the lane like, I can't even jog. I can't do this. And it was heartbreaking. It really was. And there was a lot of things that I would do differently. You think you've done so well in a year. You're a world champion. You're coming off that ride again after having two years off, and you're the best in the world again. And then you think you're invincible, and you go back and you do all these training sessions, and you're like, I have no niggles. I'm good. I'm going to keep pushing through this. And it's just a stupid way of thinking. And just stubborn, I suppose. And no, not taking the time to recover in between sessions properly or competitions because you just think you're invincible. And so they're definitely the things that I would do differently towards the end of my career. And I probably would have got to Tokyo if I had been a little bit smarter. But my stubborn self just didn't let that happen.
BEN WATERWORTH: Well, the thing that I find unique to about the Gold Coast experience is you obviously were the final runner on the torch of the Queen's Baton relay. So, I mean, obviously a massive honour. And obviously the distinction that comes with that. But how is that battling that emotion, dealing with the fact that I've got this massive honour, the world is at my feet, everybody's still talking about. But you obviously deep down know that this is not going to be happening for me like Australia is expecting right now.
SALLY PEARSON: It was horrible. And they were telling me to run and I was across the sand and like, you guys realised that yesterday I couldn't even jog. And now you're telling me I've got to jog across the sand. I'm like, I am in so much pain right now. I'm like, just grit your teeth and bear it. Just grit your teeth and bear it. This is a lifetime experience. I got this like, I'm like, oh, every single time. And then I'm like, I feel so bad. I'm going to let all these people down. It was just it was definitely a wave of emotions. I was trying to keep in check. But I didn't. Also, the reason why we held back, I think it was like a day after that or two days. I can't remember when I did it now. I didn't want to put a dampener on any of the opening ceremony celebrations. I didn't want to do that to the other athletes. I wanted the opening ceremony to be about the athletes and enjoying themselves and starting the games off positive. And I chose a time in the day that was literally like lunchtime period where I was going to make an announcement. I did it. So it was almost like after the morning sessions of everything and then like and then before the afternoon sessions. So that kind of sneaks in there and then everyone can get ready for the next part and forget about me as quickly as possible. I was trying to be as respectful to the other athletes as I possibly could with the announcement. So it didn't take too much away. Well, as much as I could, away from them as possible.
BEN WATERWORTH: When do you find out? When does somebody from the organising committee tap you on the shoulder and go, Sally, we want you to, you're the last one. You're the last one with the baton. And how is that keeping it a secret? Because I can imagine the media was speculating it was going to be you. So, of course, you know.
SALLY PEARSON: Well, I didn't know. We I don't even know when we went into the I can't even remember now. How long before the opening ceremony, we went to be drove to the village was, but it's certainly off the bus. So, they got off that bus as soon as I arrived into the village. That's when I got the tap on the shoulder. But the harder part was deciding. They said you can't do both. You can't be flag bearer and the last person with the baton.
BEN WATERWORTH: Right.
SALLY PEARSON: One like.
BEN WATERWORTH: So, that was offered to you as well, the flag bearers as well.
SALLY PEARSON: They didn't really offer it to me. They didn't really offer it. I don't know. I can't remember exactly what he said, but you can't do both. And I'm like, oh, wow, I was, I was, I was really torn.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, I can imagine.
SALLY PEARSON: Because I really wanted to be flag bearer. Really, really wanted it to be. But I was like, this is like lighting the cauldron for Commonwealth Games.
BEN WATERWORTH: Exactly. You get to hand it to Prince Charles. Like there he is. Have the bat, Your Honour.
SALLY PEARSON: He was like the cauldron.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, he was. There you go.
SALLY PEARSON: I was like, that's, that doesn't happen either. So yeah, yeah, that was a hard decision to make.
BEN WATERWORTH: I can imagine. Well, I'm also thinking that you think about the cauldron. I mean, Brisbane 2032, I think you're in with a pretty good shot of being one of those final torch bearers for entering the Gabba in 10 years time, Sally. So you never know.
SALLY PEARSON: Well, let's just put it out there and put it in their heads.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, exactly. I'll be completely honest with you and say you're the second one who said this. We had Kieran Perkins on recently, and our idea was maybe we get Stephen Bradbury, you know, kind of Kieran Perkins, and maybe yourself, you can share it. You're about to light the cauldron. But then, of course, you both fall over, and Stephen Bradbury comes in, you know, iconic Queenslanders sharing this honour as Brisbane 2032. So I think it would work perfectly.
SALLY PEARSON: It would, but we'd all be fighting over who actually got to put the little...
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, exactly, just going along that way. I did read also that when Tokyo was postponed, you contemplated coming out of retirement. How close did that come, and if it had to happen, how do you think you would have gone?
SALLY PEARSON: I was very... I was training. I wasn't training, like, 100% because I was still, like, trying to get over, recover from having a baby, even that long after as well. So, I did consider it for a very, very long time. And probably just realising that my body's not great still. My Achilles are burning up here. My hamstrings, everything is just sore. So I was like, I probably needed two years, and then eventually it bloody was cancelled anyway.
BEN WATERWORTH: Just keep going that way. So again, we can't expect in this 10-year, you know, Brisbane, you know, the body putting up through that again.
SALLY PEARSON: I don't even want to know how old I'll be.
BEN WATERWORTH: Work out the different masses. Were you a bit sad to see Jasmine beat your Olympic record in Tokyo?
SALLY PEARSON: Yeah, a little bit, but at the same time, I knew it was going to happen. Like I was expecting it this year. She is an amazing hurdler. I knew she was going to run like at least a 12-2 at some point at the Olympics. But the nice thing was, Bruce said, no, Sally still got the fastest final.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, that's a very good point. In the rain as well.
SALLY PEARSON: So and a headwind.
BEN WATERWORTH: So exactly. See, Bruce is always on board there when it comes to clarifying things like that. I mean, what sort of do you look at the future of the event? Obviously, Liz, you know, narrowly missing out on the final. I mean, do you hold hope that the next Sally Pearson could be in in Brisbane 2032 in front of the home crowd?
SALLY PEARSON: Yeah, that would be it would be lovely, wouldn't it? It would be nice to have that another Cathy Freeman moment at the Olympics from, I mean, you're going to be talking about kids who are what 15 now, really. Those sort of kids who are coming through. So it's just about knowing what that junior development is like at the moment and seeing who's got that talent and will and perseverance to try and get there. So it would be great, wouldn't it? It would be nice to have that in our sport much needed. It would be nice to have it in the next Olympics as well, like leading up to Brisbane and having that story to tell along the way. Like Cathy was from what, 92 all the way to Sydney Olympics. Everyone was following her career quite closely. And we do have a champion here that we've got to look after and get her to that gold medal in Sydney.
BEN WATERWORTH: Absolutely. We'll be keeping an eye out to see how that goes. Now, Sally, before we wrap up with a set of just sort of get to know you style questions, obviously, retirement for you, you've become a mother, you know, what's life post your career like? And kind of what can we expect to see from yourself maybe in the coming years?
SALLY PEARSON: Well, yeah, I mean, I put that post up a few days ago, sort of asking the question, like I'm trying to rediscover myself and still coming to terms of being a retired athlete, it's been super hard, harder than I thought, emotional at times, because it's almost like you're that high school kid who's just finished that one, he doesn't really know where they want to go, you know, they're going to university, but like, why am I studying this? I'm doing it just because you're supposed to go to university or whatever it is, you know, like, I don't really know what to do for the rest of my life. But I'm starting to think now, like, I do really like the media side of it as much as I feel like I cringe every time I say that, because I feel like it's something that everyone expects an athlete to say. They want to be in the media, they want to be the next commentator, they want to do this and that and this and that without working hard for it. But I had a little stint on the Channel 7 Gold Coast, and I'm like, this is fantastic. I really enjoy this more than I ever thought I would. You know, I don't expect anything big. I just want to learn the industry. I want to understand it. I even like the producing side of it. I find all that really fascinating and it really excites me. And that's something that's been really hard to find. It's something that gets me going again, wants me to get out of bed. So it's certainly an avenue that I'm going to be exploring in probably the next year.
BEN WATERWORTH: And is that something that you go back to, say, uni and do something with it?
SALLY PEARSON: Yeah, these are the things that I'm going to sit down with my manager about. We're going to write a list and say, look, everything I want to do, what I don't want to do, what's expected of me, how much time am I going to put into this? Is it going to take all day, every day to do this? Can I viably do this? So we're going to do that and really explore the avenues and hopefully find a way in somewhere. I'm not that sort of person that wants to go in there and be the next morning show host.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm going there and I want to be that.
SALLY PEARSON: It applies to Kashi. I want to learn that side of it from the very beginning. What do you have to do? Where do you have to go? I don't like going in there and having this expectation on you. You got this important job and you're like, this is a bit silly. I'm new to this. Teach me first.
BEN WATERWORTH: That's a great attitude. I'll tell you now, ten years time, you've lit the cauldron. I'll be sitting next to you in the gabber and the commentary booth then. We can work on that path then, Sally. You can be the... No, you're the next Bruce. I'll just be the fluff on the side, so we'll keep working that. That's my big goal. Yes, exactly. Good. I'm glad. The other thing, just before we get to the questions, reading the FAQ on your website, the question asks, what other sports do you like to watch? Saying that you get a bit into the motorsports because of your husband, do you say MotoGP? I'm a big Formula One fan, so I don't know if you've kind of translated across into that, but you get hit like late nights with the MotoGP, kind of staying up with him, or kind of is it more of a, tell me who won, I'll watch the replay in the morning?
SALLY PEARSON: It used to be a bit like that. But we're kind of lucky the MotoGP is usually morning in Europe, which kind of helps because it means it's later night here, so maybe 10 o'clock or 10.30. So it's not that big a deal to stay up or get up and watch it. We don't obviously do it every single time. Just it happens if we're having one of those nights where we're not falling asleep early, we're just up watching it. So that's, it's certainly exciting. And I think any sport is like that if you know anything about that sport. I can't, I don't know anything about cricket, you know. I know it's an Australian sport, but I never grew up with cricket, so I don't know anything about it. So it doesn't excite me. But I know that if I sat down with someone over a period of time and they explained it and I understood it, then yeah, it would be exciting. So it's again, that going back to that same thing that we're talking about with athletics, you need that education, you need that understanding about it. So you know what's going on, you know what's good and what's bad and why the umpire is saying, no, you're out and you're in and blah, blah, you know, like these are the things that we need to educate our people on.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, no, definitely. Great point with that one there for sure. Sally, we wrap up every interview series of Get To Know You style questions. Now, as always, these are based on a Team Canada questionnaire they gave their athletes ahead of both Rio and Pyeongchang. And we always like to use an athlete from the same sport. We've gone with Kimberley Hysons here, Canadian runner, and I will say, as I always say to all our guests, there is a drawing element if you want to. If you feel very creative and you want to draw a picture of yourself, there is an option, but it's completely up to you. So just don't know how your drawing skills are, Sally, but you're welcome to, after this interview, to jot something down. We'll stick to the first question then. If you could choose any Olympic host city, where would it be? Zurich? Oh, nice.
SALLY PEARSON: I don't know if they've even had the Olympics before, but I would...
BEN WATERWORTH: That would be a nice one. Very picturesque, I could imagine. Winter or summer, they could have them both, probably.
SALLY PEARSON: And they just love sport.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah. Oh, I like that one. I don't think we've had Zurich ants before, so put it on the list. In your spare time, what do you most like to do?
SALLY PEARSON: So I had this question when I put that post up a few days ago. I know this is going to be a long answer. It's probably supposed to be quick and fast.
BEN WATERWORTH: No, I appreciate the in-depth answer, Sally.
SALLY PEARSON: It's all good. When I put this post up a few days ago about rediscovering myself, someone said, what do you find yourself looking at when you're scrolling through social media? What catches your eye? And maybe that's an avenue that you could go down. And I was like, okay, well, you've got to cross off funny animal videos and people. I'm not going to go down that avenue. But then I find myself always looking at houses and interior. And I don't think I'll ever go down that avenue in terms of career path, but I really enjoy looking at what people have done with their houses and inside. I'm such a snoop. I go across all these nice big mansions of the Gold Coast. I really just love to go and have a look in there and see what they've done. I go on to realestate.com and I'm looking at all the sales signs, but I don't care about the house. I just want to see what they've done inside.
BEN WATERWORTH: I think you could. Can't you just knock on the door and be like, Hi, I'm Sally Pearson. Can I look through? If you knocked on my door right now, I was like, Hi, I'm Sally Pearson. I want to see. I'm like, Come on in, Sally. Absolutely. I feel you could get away with that.
SALLY PEARSON: And then they say who?
BEN WATERWORTH: Where the gold? Where are the Olympic medals? Show them the interviews in 2008. Oh, I remember you. Absolutely. That's fantastic. Ashley, while you're talking about posts on social media, the one you posted recently where you said, What do you think is the most difficult event in track and field? What do you think is the most difficult event in track and field, Sally?
SALLY PEARSON: Oh, I'm going to have to say probably the marathon or the 20k walk. Yes, because one, you got to have endurance, which I don't have. And then the walk, you've got to have the technique, otherwise you're out.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, that's its own unique.
SALLY PEARSON: All the other events, without either long jump, you jump over the board, you foul, like throw, if you hit the board, you're out or you take your hand off your neck, you're out. But they're all things that without hitting the board and shot put, you don't do the technique right, but you can still get away with it or you can still finish an event without having the technique to be perfect. But in walks, these guys, they're brutal. They'll put their warning signs up all the time.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, no, it is crazy. And the fact is that they're walking, but I mean, they're probably moving faster than the majority of us can run.
SALLY PEARSON: Yeah, I could not run as fast as they walk, no way.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, it's insane.
SALLY PEARSON: I know that, anyway.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah, well, exactly, exactly. I always love this question. The weirdest instruction a coach ever gave you was?
SALLY PEARSON: Oh, it's so technical that people won't understand it. But so you have a lead leg in hurdles, and you have a trail leg in hurdles. So your lead leg is the one that lands over the hurdle first. And so I was struggling to get my lead leg down faster. So you want to get over that hurdle as quick as you possibly can. And you want to hit that lead leg down on the ground, just over the hurdle as fast as you possibly can. And I'm like, how do I do this? And he goes, pull your calf down, pull your calf down. And I'm like, what is that sort of cue? When do you ever use your calf to pull your leg down? You know, you want to get strong. When you're running, you're technically really big. You're using all your muscles, of course, but it's mainly like hamstrings and glutes and quads and adductors that kind of get the brunt of the running side of it. And so you're using your your glute to pull down or your hamstring or whatever. It's like, use your car to pull down. I don't even switch my calf on when I'm in the air. I mean, it's very technical and people who don't know hurdles or whatever, I won't understand that. But I tell you, don't give that as a cue to someone.
BEN WATERWORTH: Don't. Hurdles, coaches, if you're listening, just don't use it. Just it doesn't work.
SALLY PEARSON: Don't put your calf down.
BEN WATERWORTH: What is your favourite workout?
SALLY PEARSON: Oh, running. I actually really, I never thought I would, but I really just love to run. I don't like, I really don't like circuits. And I'm not that sort of person. I can't be told what to do in terms of, I don't want someone blasting me like, do that, do that. I don't work like that. I'm very self-motivated. I don't need someone trying to motivate me to do something. I just stop. I just don't want to do this because I don't like circuits.
BEN WATERWORTH: I love that. That's perfect. Great, great answer. Your favourite sandwich is?
SALLY PEARSON: A really thick peanut butter sandwich, but it has to be like really thick peanut butter.
BEN WATERWORTH: Nice.
SALLY PEARSON: On white bread.
BEN WATERWORTH: Okay. I was going to ask, so there's always a bread element. Working with Coles, get your heaps of like peanut butter and bread, like sneaky little.
SALLY PEARSON: I need another delivery from them, that's for sure.
BEN WATERWORTH: Get back on those ads at the same bolt. We miss them, Sally.
SALLY PEARSON: I know we need to get in back out here, don't we?
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah. They were fun. If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Bye.
SALLY PEARSON: I think to be able to go in visible, I think so. Or to live like for a long time.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah.
SALLY PEARSON: I just, I think I'm gonna live a long time already, but to live even longer, just to see the new generations coming through, and yeah, I think so.
BEN WATERWORTH: Good answer, I like that one. I like that one too. The best candy in the world is?
SALLY PEARSON: Candy, where are we, America?
BEN WATERWORTH: I'm still on the Canadians question, so we're going on with what they say. The lollies, let's go with the lollies.
SALLY PEARSON: I'm gonna say those little red raspberry things.
BEN WATERWORTH: Oh, yes.
SALLY PEARSON: Yeah, they're really, really good.
BEN WATERWORTH: Red frogs are great, they get all the love, but the raspberries never get the love, do they?
SALLY PEARSON: Red frogs are good, but they're just a bit harder than those raspberries. The raspberries are a little bit softer. Better sort of texture, I think, easier texture to chew on. The red frogs are a bit hard.
BEN WATERWORTH: That's a good point, good point. I've got the analysis here, Sally. That kind of goes to this. It works really well. As a kid growing up, who was your favourite sports team?
SALLY PEARSON: Sports team? Well, I didn't really follow teams because I grew up with a single mum who wasn't into anything but like swimming and tennis. But I do remember one time, I don't know how old was I? I'm going to say I was like 13. I remember being at someone's house. They were a New Zealand family and we were watching New Zealand take on Australia on SBS. It was like, I love this. In netball, I should say in netball. So I guess it was, are they the Diamonds, the Australian team?
BEN WATERWORTH: The Diamonds, yeah.
SALLY PEARSON: I'm sure they've always been called the Diamonds, but it was my first time I'd ever watched netball on TV and they were playing New Zealand and we won. And they were like, get out of the house. I love that. That was my first real taste of team sport on TV.
BEN WATERWORTH: Is there something that now, like kind of as you've grown up, that you've got more into team sports or is it something that?
SALLY PEARSON: Yes and no, I still really like watching the tennis, but I'm trying to get more involved with it because I still don't know enough about a lot of team sports. I'm still watching it going, I don't really know what's going on. I like watching team sports more live than on TV. I'd prefer to be there. I think it's better.
BEN WATERWORTH: I just saying this now, like when I lived sort of in that vicinity in Brisbane Gold Coast, I'm a big AFL fan. Don't go for any of the Queensland teams, but I liked going to the Gold Coast Suns games because they're obviously a fairly newish team and don't have the supporter base. So I think that if you got into AFL, jump on the Suns because I don't know if they've got any like celebrity support. They could need some help out there to get them out there, Sally. Just saying, get on the Suns.
SALLY PEARSON: Well, you put it out there and maybe they'll get in contact with me.
BEN WATERWORTH: There you go. There we go. We'll make sure that they hear this. Sally Pearson jumping on board the Suns. I know it might draw the membership in a little bit more. What is your favourite sports movie?
SALLY PEARSON: Sports movie. Oh, I have a few, though. I don't know which one's my favourite. I get inspired by Chariots of Fire only because of the music. The music makes it.
BEN WATERWORTH: Did you listen to that? Was that one of the songs you would listen to before a race? That might you want to run slower, though, wouldn't it?
SALLY PEARSON: Well, maybe, but maybe in slow motion. Yeah, in slow motion, look at the music. Maybe. I enjoyed Cool Runnings.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yes.
SALLY PEARSON: I wouldn't say I was inspired by it, but I enjoyed it because it was the athletics beginning for them. So I was like, oh, this is cool. They're like sprinters and they're doing bobsled now. And I enjoyed... What was it? One of the skiing guys, the downhill skier guy. I enjoyed that. I certainly wasn't inspired by it. And I mean, it wasn't inspiring at all for me because it was like, he's just doing it because he's just trying to find something to do, you know?
BEN WATERWORTH: Like, he's going to the Olympics, but... Even Hugh Jackman couldn't make that inspiration, right?
SALLY PEARSON: I really enjoyed it, though. I thought it was a great movie. And I really liked one of the quotes from there when he was going up the lift with the best down... What do you call that skiing in?
BEN WATERWORTH: Is it the down? Ski jumping, yeah.
SALLY PEARSON: I mean, so he was in the lift with the best ski jumper there, and he was the worst ski jumper there. And the guy said, you know, we're very much the same, you and I, and Eddie's like, what are you talking about? I'm like, I'm losing. No, because like, you're at your end and you've got like all this to lose. And I'm at mine, I've got everything to lose. Well, we're very much the same, just at opposite ends of the spectrum. I'm like, oh, that's really interesting that someone who's like him can see Eddie as doing his bit.
BEN WATERWORTH: Yeah. No, it's great to kind of see that way. I'm just thinking you mentioned Cool Runnings. Obviously, Yana went to Bobsled. Is that something you've considered at all? Like going to the Whiteroo?
SALLY PEARSON: I was supposed to. I had this pact with my training partner, Andrea Miller, who is a New Zealander. And I said to her after, I don't even know when we were supposed to do it. We didn't really make up a date. I said, after our athletics career, you're going to become Australian and we're going to go and be a Bobsled team. It never happened, but we still talk about it to this day that we should have done it. I would love to give it a go.
BEN WATERWORTH: Four more years now. Think about it. You've got a good cycle right now.
SALLY PEARSON: It's quite a fascinating sport. I mean, I remember before Beijing, I was approached by the AIS to go and try out for skeleton as well. But because my athletics was going really well, I was like, oh, I'm sorry, I can't. But yeah, it was certainly something that would have interested me, I think.
BEN WATERWORTH: I say do it, I say you've got plenty of time to do it. If Yana can do it, you can do it.
SALLY PEARSON: And you only have to run about 30 metres and just sit in there and hope for the best.
BEN WATERWORTH: Exactly. Exactly. Look, we've had plenty of our bobsled team on this show. So again, I've got connections. I can hook you up.
SALLY PEARSON: I'm sure. Well, put my name in the hat then.
BEN WATERWORTH: And Bree and Chiara would love to have you on board. You know, they just, they would be getting you on there. Two more. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? Live forever?
SALLY PEARSON: Forever?
BEN WATERWORTH: Yes.
SALLY PEARSON: Forever. So I can't.
BEN WATERWORTH: Forever. You've got that superpower where you can live like for eternity you want. Where are you living forever?
SALLY PEARSON: I love living on the Gold Coast. I've been around the world and I always say I'd still forever, like always move back to the Gold Coast if I was living anywhere else for a little bit.
BEN WATERWORTH: Perfect. I like that. The final one. I always love this question as well. When you were little, what was one thing that you always thought?
SALLY PEARSON: I wasn't a deep thinker when I was little.
BEN WATERWORTH: I'll give you an example. We've had answers of this one of I'm hungry because I was always hungry when I was little.
SALLY PEARSON: I always thought about it. It's kind of a to-answer thing. I think that's what I wanted to be, but it was also what I thought about.
BEN WATERWORTH: You could still tie him, Sally. There's plenty of opportunity. You know Prince Charles. Like you gave him a baton.
SALLY PEARSON: I have met Prince Harry before as well. I don't know if you can call him Prince Harry anymore though. Anyway, you feel a prince in some way.
BEN WATERWORTH: Technically. But see, you've got your ins there, Sally. It's just happening there. Before we let you go, obviously, we mentioned social media. Plug your social media website, anything you want to plug right now, Sally, for people to stay up to date with what you're going to be up to.
SALLY PEARSON: Well, I'm going to be posting a lot more on my Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter. I'm trying to be a bit more big on my Twitter and have a bit more of a opinion on Twitter because if I want to be in the media, you've always got to have some sort of opinion, don't you? So we're doing that a lot more on Sally Pearson at Twitter. It's pretty much Sally Pearson on all social media accounts.
BEN WATERWORTH: Simple. Find it that way. Sally, it's been an absolute pleasure and an honour to have you on the show. We're going to look forward to seeing you in the media. I'm looking forward to being in the commentary box with you in Brisbane in 10 years and also seeing you in Milan in 2026. Come on.
SALLY PEARSON: But I'm Bruce in 2026.
BEN WATERWORTH: You're Bruce. Yeah, of course you're Bruce. Like, come on, we love Bruce. Bruce is a legend. But it's time for there to be a female Bruce, right? We want there to be a- You're the colour, you're the colour. I'm not smart enough to call it. You're the smart one. I'm just the fluffy idiot next to you saying silly, dumb things that people will complain on Twitter about, clearly. So we'll work on it, Sally. But thank you for your time on the show. It's been a pleasure.
SALLY PEARSON: Thank you.
BEN WATERWORTH: And a massive, massive thanks there to Sally for her time and her management for arranging that interview. Such a great chat. I'm looking forward to being an expert commentator. Come Brisbane, I'm always obviously finding my ins here, and obviously Sally will, the new Bruce, basically. That's simple as well. And bobsled, we've just obviously had Beijing, so we're gonna see how she goes come along in a couple of years' time. So make it happen, Sally. I'm sure it's gonna be absolutely great. And sallypearson.com as well, added to her social media, if you would like to see that, sallypearson.com.au, I should mention. Don't forget the.au on top of that. And if you wish to see the video of this interview, of course, hit our YouTube channel up, Off The Podium, and you will be able to see the video version of this chat. But again, thanks to Sally for her time. We've got some great interviews if you haven't already checked out. Some of the other ones we've had, of course, recently, Mack Horton, as I alluded to, we had him on last week as well. Fantastic chat with Mack, and some other great ones we've had, Post-Beijing, Kelsey Lee-Barber, Kayla Sanchez, Andrew Koh, some great chats there, also on our YouTube channel as well. And if you missed our Beijing coverage, it was incredible games. We loved Every Second, of course, and all our coverage every single day during those games, as well as all that we do is in the lead-up. If you want to find any of those, head to any good platform where you find podcasts. Search for Off The Podium. That's simple. While you're there, subscribe so you don't miss an episode, and be sure to rate us. We'd love to hear what you think of the show, or if you've got any ideas for guests, if you would like us to track down anyone to bring on the show. By all means, we'd like to hear who you would like on the show. Social media as well, Off The Podium, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and of course, as I've already mentioned, YouTube as well. You'll find a variety of our interviews in video form there. And if you want to stare at my face, you don't really want to stare at my face, you want to stare at our guests' face and see them as they go through their answers as well. If you're going to stay tuned to the show, which we know you will because you love us, that's why you're listening to us right now. We've got some great other chats coming your way as well, and some great interviews planned. So, stay tuned Off The Podium Plenty to keep you entertained in the coming weeks, months, and years. My name is Ben, this has been Off The Podium. Big thanks again to Sally. As always, a special shout out goes to Jason Momoa. And as we always finish off the show with Remember To Go Left.
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