Aussie hurdler and model whose pre-race dance moves led her to be dubbed ‘jiggling Jenneke’ makes an incredible athletics comeback
- Former Olympian Michelle Jenneke confirms place in Commonwealth Games
- Model-athlete became international sensation with pre-race dance
- The 29-year-old has been dealing with hamstring, ankle and back injuries
- She confirmed place on team heading to Birmingham on social media
Michelle Jenneke has made a sensational return to athletics after spending three years on the sideline with serious back and ankle injuries that threatened to end her career prematurely.
The model-athlete, who gained an international following with her famous pre-race dance, has booked her place in Australia’s 85-strong Commonwealth Games team travelling to Birmingham in July.
Jenneke came in second in the 100m hurdles at both the Music City Track Carnival in Nashville and the Oceania Athletics Championships in Queensland earlier this month.
Those performances, which include a season best time of 12.95 seconds in Mackay, helped secure her place at the upcoming Games in Birmingham to be held next month.
‘This one is special. To be back representing my country after a few years of injury is honestly pretty unbelievable,’ the 29-year-old posted to Twitter.
Michelle Jenneke has confirmed her place in the upcoming Commonwealth Games after a longterm layoff with injury
Jenneke made headlines around the world when her ‘jiggling’ dance at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Barcelona went viral
‘Huge thank you to my team who stuck with me during some tough moments and have made this season possible. Proud to be back in the green & gold at my 3rd Comm Games.’
Jenneke made headlines around the world when her ‘jiggling’ dance at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Barcelona went viral.
The hurdler, who recently graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Engineering, has said in the past she doesn’t want to be defined by the dance and insisted it puts her in a ‘good physical and mental space’.
However, the antics drew criticism after she bombed out of the 2016 Rio Olympics despite offering one of the country’s best medal hopes – finishing 37th out of 40 entrants.
‘People can be very quick to build you up and then cut you down, but they don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes… a range of factors go on that affect performance,’ she said after her Olympic disappointment.
‘People think that by doing my dance I’m trying to draw attention to myself. I’m not.’
Jenneke confirmed her place in Australia’s Commonwealth Games team with a series of social media posts
The 29-year-old has more than 500,000 followers on Instagram – sharing she would be part of Australia’s 85-strong Commonwealth Games team preparing to travel to the UK
Jenneke has been dealing with a series of hamstring, ankle and back injuries in recent years, posting videos of her rehabilitation to her popular social media accounts.
The 29-year-old has more than 500,000 followers on Instagram – sharing she would be part of Australia’s 85-strong Commonwealth Games team preparing to travel to the UK.
She joins Celeste Mucci and Liz Clay in the women’s 100m hurdles.
The Aussie representation is headlined by 100m sprinter Rohan Browning, 800m star Peter Bol and long distance phenoms Linden Hall and Jessica Hull.