Michelle Jenneke: Australian hurdler, dancing sensation

The 100-meter hurdles and the Internet just got a little sexier thanks to a racy prerace warmup routine by Australia's Michelle Jenneke.
If her goal was to get the blood pumping, it apparently worked (and for Jenneke, too), as the 19-year-old dominated the IAAF World Junior Championship in Barcelona last weekend. Along the way, she became a viral video sensation (videos such as the one you no doubt just played -- be honest -- are getting clicked as fast as, well, as fast as Michelle Jenneke runs the 100-meter hurdles).

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According to Bleacher Report, sports blog With Leather posted raw, live-stream footage of Jenneke's prerace routine, then went back and edited it with an "overt celebration of Jenneke and her dancing and running presented in gratuitous slow motion, and with an awful song over it."
But then, that's just their opinion.
What seems clear is that this is one athlete who embraces the joy of running, and given some of the high-strung language accompanying track athletes these days, a little fun is a welcome thing.
In the 2010 Youth Games in Singapore, Jenneke took silver in the 100-meter hurdles. But after her gold in Barcelona, her star is on the rise.  She won't be competing in the London Games -- much to the chagrin of many Internet users -- but she might just be loosening up for a samba in Rio in 2016.
In the meantime, female athletes' sexuality and their power have been hotly discussed topics this year, and Jenneke is helping to shake it up. And that calls for a hug...
Jenneke

[Photos: Michelle Jenneke]