ATHLETICS: Steve Hooker says fellow track and field superstar Sally Pearson has earned the right to prepare for the Rio Olympics free from constant speculation about her fitness.
Although fully recovered from the broken wrist which ended her 2015 campaign, Pearson is battling a troublesome achilles problem.
The 29-year-old is not expected to return to racing until the northern hemisphere summer season - a full year since her last competitive outing and just a month before the Rio Olympics where she will be defending her 100m hurdles title.
Pole vault maestro Hooker - who preceded Pearson as national athletics team captain - rates the famously competitive hurdler as "just about the best track and field athlete we've ever had".
"She's done enough and now she's having a hard year this year and I think it's up to everyone to take the expectations away from her and give her space and the opportunity to get as prepared as she can," Hooker said on Tuesday at the team launch for the Simplot Games, where he will act as mentor to a group of star Australian high school athletes competing in Idaho.
"She's a freak and she's a freakish competitor.
"If she's given that space and given a waiver from the expectations that people are going to want to put on her, then maybe she can do something special again.
"But it's going to be hard.
"One of the difficult things in that position is constantly updating people about your condition and your progress.
"It's so unproductive from her point of view - and she lives it constantly 24/7."
Hooker is in a unique position to empathise with Pearson, having overcome the odds and a painful adductor injury to win gold at the 2009 world championships.
He was also the subject of feverish speculation in the lead-up to his Olympic title defence in London, where he scraped into the final, before retiring two years later.
Hooker also moved on Tuesday to temper overall medal expectations for the Australian athletics team in Rio.
Walker Jared Tallent has a remarkable record of podium finishes at world and Olympic level, while Fabrice Lapierre will be confident of backing up his second-placed effort in the long jump at the 2015 world titles.
But there are form or fitness queries over other proven competitors such as javelin star Kim Mickle and discus thrower Dani Samuels, while long jumper Mitchell Watt has not competed at the elite level since 2012.
"They're in the category of 'it's all got to go right'," said Hooker.
"They're not standouts at this point."
AAP
