http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/dancing-hurdler-michelle-jenneke-signs-with-sports-management-company/story-fnecsqy7-1226461057435
SHE was one of the biggest stars of Australia's London Olympics without even competing – and it's easy to see why.
More than 30 million people have watched Aussie teenage hurdling sensation Michelle Jenneke strut her stuff in a unique pre-race warm-up dance routine that has gone viral on Youtube and created headlines around the globe. It even made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in the United States.
Now the 19-year-old glamour, who lives at home with her parents, Randal and Nicky, and older sister Cathy in Kenthurst in Sydney’s north west, wants to prove she is more than a one-hit wonder.
Ask anyone who knows her and they will tell you there is much more to the 100m hurdler than some flashy dance moves.
But it is her Barcelona boogie at the IAF World Junior Championships in July that promises to change her life forever.
Jenneke is now about to become one of the most sought after sportswomen in Australia after yesterday signing with sports management company Six Sides Management in a deal that puts her in the same group as Australian Olympic swimming gold medallist Melanie Schlanger and West Indies cricket superstar Kieran Pollard.
But for all this, she insists life has not changed for her.
“My friends have been teasing me a bit more, that’s about it,†Jenneke said.
“I never thought my little warm up would receive so much attention.â€
It’s not hard to understand why, when you consider she already has claim to 30 million fans and the unique feat of having the most watched Youtube clip in the world for a day when her video first went viral last month.
Australia’s third fastest woman in the 100m hurdles also has the results and talent to back it up, including a silver medal at the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games.
“In the last three days we’ve already had a lot of big companies come to us and say what do we have to do to get Michelle.
“Given the profile of the companies we’re talking to already, it’s obvious she’s exactly what a lot of them are looking for,†her manager Damian Triffitt said.
Jenneke leaves the country today to volunteer at an orphanage in Tanzania for three months.