Jenneke named to Australian Commonwealth Games squad
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ByEurosport
Published 05/06/2014 at 10:43 GMT
Athletics Australia officially announced its 2014 Commonwealth Games team for Glasgow and track star Michelle Jenneke will join Olympic champion – and fellow 100m hurdler – Sally Pearson and 101 other athletes to field the nation’s second largest athletics team to date trailing only the 2006 Melbourne Games squad.
Michelle Jenneke of Australia (Imago)
Image credit: Imago
The 2010 Summer Youth Olympic silver medallist burst onto the scene after a pre-race warm up routine at the 2012 IAAF World Junior Championships became an internet sensation attracting more than 25 million views worldwide.
The 20-year-old New South Wales native is one of 44 athletes who are scheduled to make their open age major championship debut, which according to Steve Moneghetti, the Chef de Mission of the Australian team, is a very exciting sign toward the development of new stars.
“It’s fantastic to see such large numbers and that comes first from the sport giving the athletes the opportunity and second from the athletes taking advantage of the opportunity,” Moneghetti said. “The Commonwealth Games has often been the first multi-sport team experience for young athletes and many of those selected fall into that category.”
At the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, the Australian athletics team was 66-strong and collected 11 gold, six silver and three bronze medals.
Jenneke showed her excitement over the selection by immediately posting on her Facebook page to her 160k followers: “Very excited to have been announced in the 2014 Australian Commonwealth Games Team. Can't wait to represent Australia in my first Open Aged international competition.”
The Sports Illustrated swimsuit model recorded a personal best 13.23 on her way to winning the 100m hurdles at the Queensland Track Classic earlier this year, and is now shifting her training focus from endurance to speed for July.
“The Commonwealth Games are what I’ve been aiming for all season," Jenneke told Eurosport. "I will be heading over to Europe in June to race in Belgium and Wales.
"At the moment I just want to get as fast as I possibly can, and as long as I’m improving I’m happy with that.”
The Commonwealth Games will commence in Glasgow on Wednesday July23, with athletics competition set to commence at Hampden Park on Sunday July27.
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