Jenneke jiggles to a Games at home
SHE may be best known for her exploits behind the hurdles but Michelle Jenneke is set to make tongues wag for all the right reasons after booking her Commonwealth Games spot.
These will be very much a “home” Games for Jenneke, who became a sometime Gold Coaster after linking with Sally Pearson’s former coach Ash Mahoney in late 2016.
“Jiggling Jenneke” became an internet sensation in 2012 when a video of the runner’s pre-race dance routine was posted online.
But she faced stiff judgment after being bundled out of the event in the heats at Rio, with her critics accusing her of having skewed priorities as she fell below her best.
But the decision to link with Mahoney in a bid to rediscover her best form has paid dividends.
For the past 15 months, Jenneke has been making frequent trips to the Gold Coast to train under Mahoney’s watchful gaze and it paid dividends on Saturday night when she finished second to Pearson at the national titles to book her spot on the Commonwealth Games team.
Having already notched an A-qualifier, Jenneke just had to finish in the top two to seal her spot and managed that with a strong run after the final was delayed for several minutes following a restart.
“I’ve been with (Ash) for a little over a year now,” Jenneke said.
“I’m still up here all the time on the Gold Coast training, especially over the summer since I haven’t been at uni.
“I go to uni in Sydney. So over the summer, I’ve been up here a lot, we’ve been doing a lot of hard work and it’s all been geared up to the Commonwealth Games, it hasn’t been geared up for these trials.
“So I’m really excited to see what I can do out there.”
That bodes well for Jenneke, who was out of the blocks well and only just behind Pearson over the opening hurdles before fading slightly mid-race.
“The goal here (at trials) was just to come in that toptwo spot,” she said.
“That earns me automatic qualification which was really all I was looking for out of the championships.
“I wasn’t looking for a time or anything like that, I just wanted to come first or second.
“I warmed up for the final probably the best I’ve ever warmed up, so I don’t think I put together the perfect race then … so it’s something that I can still work towards for Comm Games.
“I’ve still got eight weeks and I’m really excited to see what I can do.”