The 26-year-old Rawlinson won the world title at Osaka, Japan, in 2007 just eight months after giving birth to her son, but missed the Beijing Olympics last August because of recurring foot injuries.

The Australian runner confirmed she had split with husband and coach Chris Rawlinson, a British hurdler who won a Commonwealth Games gold medal in 2002.

 

The couple had got married after the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

Rawlinson has appointed Craig Hilliard as her coach for a second time.
 

She is scheduled to return to competition June 10 in Poland and has entered International Association of Athletics Federations Grand Prix meets in Monaco, London, Rome and Lausanne.
 

Competing as Jana Pittman, she won her first world title in 2003, but injured her knee in a warmup accident ahead of the 2004 Athens Olympics and, after a drama-filled buildup, placed fifth in the final.

Rawlinson said she had been more focussed on her child and her athletics career since her marriage broke down and was now over the injuries that have sidelined her for 12 months.

She said: "A lot of things turned around when I dedicated my life back towards my son and my athletics individually.

 

"Stress has a reaction on the body, that's the way it is, we're humans, we can't get away from that.

 

"I love Chris, I wanted to make my marriage work, it didn't work and at this stage I think I put a lot of my emotional energy into trying to save my marriage."

A third World Championship title might be too much to expect this year, she said, but an Olympic gold medal at London in 2012 is her main target.

 

She said: "I'm lucky to have won two world titles already, a third would be fantastic.

 

"But that elusive gold in the Olympics is the main thing that my focus is on, even now three and a half years out."

 

Chris Rawlinson announced last November that he is is planning to make a comeback and hopes to compete for Australia at the World Championships in Berlin, when he will be 37.