'I'm desperate': Injured Sally Pearson racing against time

An Achilles injury could be Sally Pearson's biggest hurdle as she prepares for the Commonwealth Games.

Pearson will go into the Games without having ran an individual race in a month but the Gold Coast's golden girl of athletics isn't giving up just yet.

"I desperately want to be out there hurdling for Australia and I'll do everything I possibly can but I think I need to leave it in the hands of my body to decide for me," she said.

The head coach admits Pearson could be forced to watch the hurdles from the sidelines.

"It's always in the back of your mind," Craig Hilliard said, adding he was staying "very positive".

Also among our athletics medal hopes is walker Dane Bird Smith who won bronze at the Rio Olympics.

"I'm hoping that I will be able to take away what I learnt trying to get that bronze medal and trying to turn it into gold," he said.