SALLY Pearson is a household name after the London Olympics. But the Lithgow Mercury sports editor Jeff Geddes discovered her first. She was a promising but largely unknown young athlete named Sally McLennan when she found herself seated beside the great Marjorie Jackson-Nelson in Lithgow back in 2007. The occasion was the launch ceremony for the inaugural Lithgow Flash Gift, Australia’s richest foot race for women. Marjorie is at the centre of the picture snapped by Jeff in Cook Plaza. Also in the photo are Centennial Coal’s Bob Miller, Mayor Neville Castle and the then general manager of Lithgow Council Paul Anderson. The names of the beaming male athletes at left are not recorded. lm081412sally
AN encounter in Lithgow in December 2007 between one of Australia’s Olympic legends and a future Olympic hopeful has led to a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Following her silver medal win at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Sally Pearson (nee McLellan) was quoted to say “last year I met Marjorie Jackson and this inspired me to set my goal to win an Olympic Gold one year”.
Sally has now achieved this dream by winning a gold medal for 100m hurdles at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
“Who would ever have thought five years ago when we welcomed Marjorie Jackson-Nelson, ‘the Lithgow Flash’, and Sally Pearson to Lithgow to launch the Lithgow Flash Gift Carnival, that this meeting would lead to a future gold medal for Australia,” Lithgow City Council mayor Neville Castle said.
“I would like to congratulate Sally on her gold medal success.”
“It is great to know an athlete who has been associated with the Lithgow Flash Gift has gone on to fulfil the ultimate dream of winning Olympic Gold,” Cr Castle said.
“Five athletes who have competed at the Lithgow Flash Gift Carnival over the past five years have gone on to compete for Olympic gold at the London Olympics including Lauren Boden and Melissa Breen who have competed for the last two years at the Lithgow Flash Gift Carnival.
“With the conclusion of the 2012 London Olympics we look forward to next year’s Lithgow Flash Gift Carnival to see if we will have a potential future gold medallist competing in our own backyard before going on to win Olympic glory in Rio in 2016,”Cr Castle said.