'Hope I made you proud': Sally Pearson announces heartbreaking retirement

Aussie hurdles champion Sally Pearson has announced her retirement less than a year from the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

One of Australia's greatest modern-day track and field athletes, Pearson has succumbed to a devastating run of injuries.

The 32-year-old won gold in the 100m hurdles at the 2012 London Olympics and is a two-time world champion.

“It has been a long 16 years, but also a fun and exciting 16 years,” she posted on social media on Tuesday.

“My body has decided it is time to let it go, and move forward onto a new direction.

“I have prided myself on always being on the start line ready to win. I no longer believe I can achieve this.

“It is therefore with much regret that I have come to the conclusion that it is time to retire from this phase of my life and move on to the next.

“I hope I have made you proud Australia.”

Injuries cruel wonderful career

The Olympic and two-time world champion revealed she’s suffered six injuries this year alone, including a torn quad and torn calf.

She suffered a hamstring strain in July which put in question her hopes of competing at the world championships in Doha, starting in late September.

She missed the 2015 world championship and 2016 Rio Olympics due to injury, before making one of Australian sport's great comebacks in 2017 when she coached herself to gold at the world titles in London.

But the injury curse struck again the following year, with a serious achilles problem forcing her to pull out of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

"2018 was horrible with my achilles and not being able to run at my hometown Commonwealth Games was devastating," she told the Seven Network.

"I just don't think that's fair to do that to myself and my body as well."

"My right quad tore so that put me out for about 10 days of modified training.

"Then on the 3rd of March I tore my calf and that put me out for probably six weeks.

"I came back and ran really quite well in Japan and then had a hamstring tendinopathy for another six weeks and then had my knee injected to help that recover to get over the hurdle because I couldn't even hurdle with my knee.

"Then a week later I tore my hamstring the day I was supposed to go to Europe to start racing.

"And then probably a week to three weeks after that my achilles started to flare up again."

The heartbreaking announcement comes less than two weeks after she appeared in Sydney to promote the one-year countdown to Tokyo.

with AAP