KARLSRUHE, Germany – World class hurdlers Sally Pearson of Australia and Susanna Kallur of Sweden have both been added to the women’s 60m hurdles field at the Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe on February 4, organisers revealed.
Pearson, the 2012 Olympic 100m hurdles champion, is coming off a limited year of competition last season after failing to recover fully from an injury.
The 30-year-old who holds the fourth fastest performance of all-time in the 60m hurdles at 7.73 seconds, which she used to win the 2012 World Indoor title, skipped the winter season last year.
Pearson also failed to defend her Olympic title in Rio last summer.
Meanwhile, Kallur, a two-time European indoor 60m hurdles champion in 2005 and 2007, holds the world record in the event at 7.68 seconds, which she clocked at the meeting’s 2008 edition.
However, like Pearson, Kallur has also struggled with injuries since 2008 but looks to be on the mend and is ready to fully test herself against strong competitions again.
The 35-year-old, who raced six times over 60m indoors last January and February, also made a notable comeback during last season outdoors.
Kallur competed in the 100m hurdles for the first time since 2010 and raced eight times over the distant with a season best of 12.91 seconds.
The Swede won a bronze medal in the 60m hurdles at World Indoor Championships in 2006 and collected the gold medal in the 100m hurdles that same year at the European Championships.
Pearson and Kallur will take on European 100m hurdles champion Cindy Roleder of Germany, who was confirmed earlier.
“The track in Karlsruhe is very fast, world-class – and personal-best performances should be possible and are also my goal,” said Roleder, who is the World Championships silver medallist in the 100m hurdles from 2015.
The women’s 60m hurdles isn’t a scoring event in this year’s IAAF World Indoor Tour but the competition was added by meeting director Alain Blondel to give Roleder some world-class challenge on her home track.
The Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe is the third stop of the 2017 IAAF World Indoor Tour.
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