Born in Washington D.C. and raised in New Jersey, Pearson started triathlon in 2018 after winning age group nationals in 2017 as a rookie. Qualifying for the National team in his first year of the sport, he then became the first American male to qualify for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games thanks to an outstanding bronze at WTCS Yokohama, a result he quickly followed with silver at WTCS Leeds before running the USA Mixed Relay team to Olympic silver in Japan.