Sally Pearson has defended her decision to prepare in London and show up late to a Commonwealth Games camp after blowing away the competition in her 100m hurdles heats on Friday morning.

Pearson finished well ahead of the competition with a 12.69 second dash, fresh after Australia head coach Eric Hollingsworth was suspended and sent home for calling the star hurdler out for her failure to attend the team’s pre-Games camp.

Pearson said Hollingsworth’s outburst had been a distraction that she would rather put to one side until after the games.

“It has been a huge distraction. I am in a really good head space at the moment. I want to keep it going,” she told Channel Ten.

“You saw how I ran tonight. It shows how important preparation is for an athlete. I know the team, I know they work together well.”

Pearson’s gold boosted Australia’s medal tally, with 113 in total on Friday. Australia, despite leading in the week has fallen behind England, who sits on 123 total medals, with 44 gold compared to Australia’s 36.

Two-time Olympic champion Michael Diamond is well-placed in qualifying in the Commonwealth Games men’s single trap shooting. The Australian is second after two of the five qualifying rounds were contested on Monday.

Greek Australian Melanie Panayiotou struggled to get to medal standings in the marathon, but saw compatriot Jess Trengove take bronze.

The Cypriot contingent of just 51 athletes will leave the games very happy, with eight medals to their name already. Dimitris Minasidis and Georgios Achilleos have taken gold in weightlifting and shooting respectively, while shooter Georgia Konstantinidou narrowly missed out of gold thanks to Aussie Laetisha Scanlan’s brilliant performance.